12 Ninjas
by samuraipanda85
Summary: The jutsu was only supposed to send Naruto back in time, but the Konoha 11 had gotten used to nothing going according to plan ever since Sasuke declared war on the Shinobi Alliance. Now all 12 of them are back to being Academy students, but there will be no time for the Chunin Exams. The Konoha 11 must gather their allies before Sasuke can gather his. The Final Ninja War is coming.
1. Chapter 1: Back to the Past

**Author's Note: Hey guys, welcome to my latest Naruto fanfiction. Some of you may know me best as the co-author for Cmartin-Panda Productions. I want to assure fans of mine and my co-author's work that this story will not take away from our other stories on Cmartin's page. And while this entire chapter was written entirely by myself, expect Cmartin to help me write future chapters from time to time.**

 **With that being said, I hope you enjoy my very own Time Travel Story. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Back to the Past

Five years after the Shinobi Alliance's victory over the 4th Shinobi World War, the Leaf was burning.

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, dressed in the standard Jounin vest of the Leaf, looked on helplessly at the once beautiful ninja village he called home. From the top of the Hokage Tower he could see fires raging all across the various districts of the village. Shops, restaurants, factories, and apartment complexes all burned with the same orange and red hue. Farther back towards the walls that once surrounded and protected the city from intruders, now there were only mountains of rubble burning black with the fires of Amaterasu. Naruto's eyes traced down to the city streets where black specks he knew to be people fought in a bloody and pointless struggle. The concept of frontlines had broken down in the last few hours. Now the enemy was everywhere, attacking pockets of resistance wherever it could be mustered. Leaf ninja, along with ninja from Sand, Cloud, Mist, Rock, and even some samurai from the Land of Iron were dying by the dozens every second. Their shoulders pressed against their comrades and their backs against whatever remained of a wall. The Leaf was where the Shinobi Alliance was to make their last stand against the forces of Sound, Rain, and all the other minor nations that were once looked down upon by the Five Great Ninja Nations.

It was supposed to be a short war, the last gasp before total peace could be declared. But Sasuke Uchiha had proven himself to be as effective a tactician as he was a ruthless murderer. He left on his redemption mission to right the wrongs of his past, but it was all a lie. He was in fact gathering support for another war against the Shinobi Alliance. The 5th Shinobi World War. He attacked defenseless villages to draw out the forces of the Alliance and ambush them. He forged secret partnerships with the underclass from all the Great Ninja Nations, placing sleeper agents in key locations. Like a divine and terrible god of war he spared no one on his campaigns. One year after the 4th Shinobi War ended, he attacked. The Five Great Nations had barely enough time to recover. The had lost half their forces in the 4th War and nearly a fifth of their remaining forces to injuries too severe for them to continue to be Shinobi. The remnants of the entire allied Shinobi World spent the next four years being pushed back…and back…and back… Until they were finally forced into this last, desperate corner.

"Naruto?" Kakashi, the Sixth Hokage spoke up. He had been Naruto's Jounin sensei back in his Genin years, and right before anyone could even sense trouble coming from Sasuke, he was named the Sixth Hokage. He had hoped to spend as little time as possible on the job. Just enough to train Naruto to take over as the 7th Hokage, but fate…or one very misguided and hateful Uchiha, had other plans.

"It is time…" Kakashi said. Naruto couldn't tell if his master was joking or not as the blond, spiky haired Jounin looked back at all his friends carefully assembled in a circle with intricate seal markings carefully etched around their feet. The same markings that Naruto and his team had discovered by accident while exploring some ancient tomb of the Sage of Six Paths.

"You know I don't like this." Naruto growled. Kakashi nodded. For ever since the idea was presented to what Kakashi referred to as the Council of the Konoha 11, Naruto had been a strong objector to the entire plan.

"I know, but we don't have any other options at this point." Kakashi reminded him. "Sasuke's army has cut off every possible escape route. There is nowhere to run and there is no chance that Sasuke will let us surrender. He means to wipe us all out completely."

"If only my clan elders had listened." Hinata spat as she stood next to Kiba and Shino in their own private circles. "If they had just elevated the branch clan to equals, than maybe they wouldn't have betrayed us and given away every secret tunnel entrance in the Leaf."

"It's okay, Hinata-chan. It's not your fault." Naruto said as he stepped towards her and took her hand in his as a comforting gesture. A gesture that a certain pink haired medic couldn't help but burn holes into when she looked upon it. Yet she didn't say a word. She knew that she lost her chance long ago. Just in time for her to realize her true feelings for the blond too. As if her love life wasn't screwed up enough.

"If you lovebirds are quite done. We need to get this show on the road." Shikamaru spat, his voice hoarse from his years of constant smoking, yet no one called him out on his rudeness. Not when the love of his life Temari had died in childbirth earlier that day.

Naruto and Hinata quickly broke apart. An air of awkwardness hung about them, which a nearby explosion quickly snapped them out of.

"You all do know that this jutsu could cost all of you your lives, right? The chakra required is enormous." Naruto pressed, really hoping that everyone would reconsider.

"And what is the alternative? Being captured, tortured, and executed by Sasuke and his gang?" Ino spat. "Take a look around you, Baka. There is no future for the Leaf. There's no future for anyone once Sasuke wins."

"What she means is that if this jutsu works. You can prevent all that." Kiba spoke up. He had matured greatly ever since Akamaru was killed during the fall of the Sand village.

"That's just it. _If_ it works." Naruto stated. "What if the sealing is wrong and it fizzles out after sucking all of your chakra dry? What if it only sends me back five minutes at the cost of everyone's life? What then?"

"What if, you don't care about being sent back to the past, you only hate the thought of leaving the rest of us behind?" Sakura spoke up, silencing the blond.

"Is that so wrong?" Naruto asked, although he knew the answer.

"Naruto, we're all friends. Heck, I think of all of you as my family." Sai stated. "We have all made this decision to send you back in time because we believe that you will save the world. You have the best chance to do so."

"But I'm only one man and I'm just an idiot." Naruto said, earning a chuckle from a few of his friends. "I can't do it alone."

"You won't be alone." Lee stated. "You will have our past selves helping you. Just trust in them like you trust in us and we will not fail you." Lee declared as he held up a thumbs up.

Naruto looked at Lee and then at all his friends as they stood in their circle. Rock Lee, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Sai, and Sakura. All of them looked upon Naruto with reassurances on their faces. It brought tears to the 22 year old's eyes. These 10 teammates were his family too.

"Alright." Naruto said as he wiped away his tears. "Let's do this." The blond toad sage leapt to the center circle of the ring. He immediately dropped down into his meditative stance and closed his eyes. As he did this, the 10 other Jounin waited for their Hokage to join them. Once Kakashi stepped inside the 11th circle surrounding the seal, he and the rest of the castors began to weave the necessary hand signs.

"Boar, Dog, Monkey, Snake, Ram, Horse, Rat, Boar, Dog, Monkey Snake, Ram, Horse, Rat, Boar…" The twelve ninjas chanted as the seal beneath their feet began to glow. The ancient, long forgotten ninjutsu began to reactivate. Months of Leaf historians working day and night to decipher the ancient cave markings, weeks of learning the hand signs and chakra control requirements necessary, and it looked like it was going to pay off. The signs began releasing some unseen gust of wind. They could all feel it working.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the ash and rubble of the Leaf village streets, a brave young Chunin was waging one last stand against the tyrannical evil army. His entire platoon were all engaged with other enemy forces scattered about the street and on rooftops, but this target was different. This one could be the deciding factor of the entire battle.

"Rasengan!" Konohamaru shouted as he charged at the enemy commander. If he could just take him out, then maybe the rest of the Leaf could be spared. These were his hopes as the enemy commander turned his spiky black head and faced the last surviving Sarutobi clansman with an uninterested look upon his red glowing eyes.

"Chidori." The commander said halfheartedly as he struck his arm out to meet the young man's Rasengan in midair. The resulting explosion threw the Chunin 20 yards away until he skidded to a stop.

"Aaaahaaaa!" Konohamaru cried out as he clutched his right palm. The explosion had burned all his skin away and nearly taken off his fingers entirely. He wouldn't be casting anymore jutsus in this fight.

The commander walked casually up to the struggling Chunin. His dark blue cape flapping in the wind as an anti-cyclone breathed more and more life into the flames around him. The wind changed direction, revealing his white open chest shirt and combat pants that Sasuke had worn during the end of the 4th Shinobi War. Now by coincidence, rather than anything resembling sentimentality, it would be what he wore during the end of the 5th Shinobi War.

"Some advice." The commander spoke in a mocking tone. "If reincarnation is a thing. Next time, don't try to counter my jutsu with his. You're not on the Dobe's level. Don't presume to be anywhere near mine."

"Fuck you, Uchiha…" Konohamaru spat as he unzipped his jacket and revealed his undershirt to be stuffed full of paper bombs ready to blow at the utterance of a single word. "NOW DIE! KA- Konohamaru shouted before Sasuke extended out his lightning blade and cut right through the Chunin's vocal cords. Had he finished saying "kai" Sasuke might have had to jump back a bit. But this was quicker. Now all Konohamaru could do in his last few moments of consciousness, was to pray to whatever God would listen for Naruto to succeed like he always did.

' _Big brother…I'm sorry…'_ Konohamaru thought before the darkness took him.

Sasuke wasted no time watching the worthless Leaf Chunin choke on his own blood, instead his eyes looked up to the pillar of light shining out from the top of the Hokage Tower. A yellowish, orangey kind of glow. Not something the last Uchiha liked the look of.

"Yo, duckbutt!" A white haired, blue skinned, cocky young man shouted as he yanked his buster sword out of the torso of a newly gutted Akimichi ninja. "That's one more sector cleared. When are we going to take the Hokage Tower and end this farce already?"

Sasuke didn't reply, which was typical, so the right hand man to his army followed his bosses eyes up to the Hokage Tower where the clouds were beginning to swirl around the pillar of light.

"Jashin, what the fuck is that?" Suigetsu asked.

"Continue your sweep of the sectors. I will find out personally." Sasuke said before leaping to the nearest rooftop and hopped over to the next one.

* * *

Back on the Hokage rooftop, things were going smoothly as could be hoped for. Just a few more minutes of chanting and the spell would be activated.

Unfortunately for our heroes, nothing ever went smoothly for them nowadays.

Naruto's eyes shot open as he sensed the incoming presence filled with hatred and bile.

"We've got company!" Naruto declared. Before anyone could ask him who, the figure landed on the rooftop and everyone felt the same disgusting chill run up their spines.

"Sasuke…" Sakura spat, like the word was a dog turd she had to vomit out.

"Well, well, well… what do we have here?" Sasuke asked as he observed the infamous Konoha 11 and the Sixth Hokage all standing around performing some kind of ritual. From the looks of it, a sacrifice of Naruto, but Sasuke's luck wasn't that good.

Naruto stood up, ready to fight with Sasuke when Shikamaru shouted at him. "Don't break the seal, Naruto!" He shouted. "Don't anybody stop weaving hand signs!" He added. Right now, nothing else mattered besides finishing the incantation.

"Oh my, and what is so important out this jutsu that you would stop yourselves from fighting me like you always do?" Sasuke asked as a team of ANBU agents snuck up behind him with their swords and kunai drawn. They got as far as the downward thrust before Sasuke sidestepped them without breaking eye contact with the 12 ninjas all keeping their place inside the seal. Two more ANBU agents tried to stab Sasuke in the back, but he merely whirled around and slit their throats with a flick of his Chidori infused hand. Kakashi cursed himself again for teaching Sasuke that move.

"No answer? No one wants to let me in on the secret?" Sasuke asked as he cut down the remaining two ANBU agents like he was harvesting grain. "Maybe after I kill one of you, you'll feel talkative." Sasuke said as he charged his Chidori and aimed for Sakura's back.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted before Kakashi flash stepped next to Sasuke and grabbed his Chidori with his own lightning infused hand.

"STOP!" Shikamaru shouted, instantly everyone halted in their latest hand sign. The eleventh member required to perform their ceremony had stepped out of the circle.

"Keep going!" Kakashi ordered as he and Sasuke engaged in close quarters taijutsu. Exchanging punches, hand chops, and knees to the gut. The older ninja was holding his ground, but Sasuke had stamina and his Sharingan on his side. Kakashi only had experience.

"How? We need 11 people to weave signs, damn it!" Shikamaru shouted in frustration.

Naruto was wondering the same thing, when a voice in his head gave him hope.

' _ **Hey Kit, summon me, quick!'**_ Kurama, the Bijuu demon sealed inside Naruto mentally spoke to his Jinchuriki.

' _You sure?'_

' _ **Positive. I memorized the hand signs even when you didn't.'**_ Kurama thought.

Not wasting any time, Naruto hoisted up his shirt to reveal the spiral seal appearing around his naval like a tattoo. He made a claw with his right hand and placed it around his seal and gave it a good turn like a key, then he slammed his palm onto the ground inside his ring.

"Four Point Seal Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto cried as smoke exploded out from his palm. Before it could clear, a blood orange fox with nine tails leapt out of the cloud and landed on the spot where Kakashi once stood. He took up the position and started with the hand sign everyone had left on.

" **I'm ready!"** Kurama declared.

"Are we sure this will still work?" Choji asked. Remembering how they weren't supposed to leave the seal for any reason. Let alone if replacing one of the castors mid-chanting would be acceptable.

"We don't have a choice!" Shikamaru shouted, knowing that it was all or nothing at this point.

"Boar, Dog, Monkey, Snake, Ram, Horse, Rat, Boar, Dog, Monkey Snake, Ram, Horse, Rat, Boar…" Everyone picked up the chanting again, more urgently this time.

"Getting tired, old man? Sure wish you still had your Sharingan, I bet. You've enjoyed the Uchiha's gifts for far too long and now its catching up to you." Sasuke mocked as he landed a solid blow to Kakashi's gut. Kakashi took the hit and followed up with his own gut punch to his former pupil, but Sasuke caught his punch and kicked the Sixth Hokage flat on his back.

"The only thing I wish…(cough)…is that I could have saved you from the dark path you walk upon, Sasuke." Kakashi said sincerely as he forced himself to stand. "I failed you, and I am sorry." Kakashi flashed through his familiar hand signs to produce one last Raikiri. "I just pray…Naruto will be able to save you the next time around."

"What are you blathering about? What is that jutsu anyway?" Sasuke demanded as the chanting and the sign weaving became faster and faster.

"You'll find out in the next life!" Kakashi shouted as he charged at Sasuke. Whose eyes were spinning, he was starting to get annoyed.

Naruto could only watch as his last living mentor was cut down by Sasuke. Once his rival and now his greatest enemy. Naruto's blood boiled as he saw Sasuke side step Kakashi's thrust and pierced his heart with his own jutsu. How many friends and comrades had Naruto lost to that jutsu? Tens? Hundreds? Maybe even thousands. He wanted nothing more than to jump out of this circle and fight one last stalemate with Sasuke. End this war with the death of the tyrant who started it all. Yet a force compelled him to remain inside the seal. He could feel it… It was working.

"And that's it. That's every Kage on my list. Killed." Sasuke declared as he wiped off the blood from his hands. He stared at Naruto, expecting him to shriek and flail about. Leap out of the seal and attack Sasuke like he always did, but the blond stayed put. "All that remains is you…Naruto…"

"I can't even be mad at you anymore, Sasuke. I just pity you. You've fallen so far." Naruto said.

Sasuke growled at Naruto's smug statement. He found it more vexing than anything else. It was a gift of Naruto's. To know just how to rub Sasuke the wrong way.

"Grr…pity THIS!" Sasuke cried as he leapt over Sakura and Sai and flew directly towards Naruto with his Chidori raised upright. Naruto was ready for him and was up on his feet with his Rasengan ready to go as soon Sasuke took to the air. The two clashed in the center of the circle just as the chanting had reached its fever pitch.

"Chidori!"

"Rasengan!"

"Taimu Toraberu No Jutsu!" The Konoha 11 shouted as the seal was filled with blinding light. For an instant, Naruto felt weightless, then he felt he was slingshot-ed all the way to the moon and back. His very essence and his mind drifting behind as he was hurled through time and space. All before crashing back down to reality.

* * *

"Naruto, pay attention!" A man shouted, jolting the poor boy awake. Naruto opened his eyes to find his nose buried in a book on account of him using it as a pillow. He lifted his head up and noticed snickering surrounding him. Then he drank in what he was seeing. A blackboard covered in theories and math problems written out in chalk. A man with a scar across his nose wearing a Chunin vest. And surrounding Naruto, seated along his and every row below and above him were children no older than 12. He was back in the Academy, by the looks of it, the semester before he graduated.

"Holy shit it worked…" Naruto muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Iruka-sensei demanded, having heard Naruto use dirty language.

"Ah, nothing, sensei!" Naruto answered quickly as he picked up his textbook to hide his face, earning more snickers from his classmates.

' _ **Enjoying being back in class?'**_ A familiar voice in Naruto's head spoke.

' _Kurama? So you came back with me huh?'_ Naruto thought.

' _ **Yup. Not too surprising though. We are a package deal, after all.'**_ Kurama thought with a smile.

Naruto smirked to himself. _'Sweet. Always great to have my good buddy with me.'_

' _ **Speaking of good buddies. Look who it is.'**_ Kurama thought as he pointed out to Naruto the lower levels where he could see 12-year-old Kiba holding out his puppy Akamaru like he hadn't seen him in ages and past that he could see 12-year-old Sasuke diligently staring at his textbook.

' _Sasuke…'_ Naruto thought as he stared at the young spiky haired youth before he became completely evil. _'I promise I will do everything in my power to save you this time around.'_

As if he could hear Naruto's thoughts, the young Sasuke closed his book and turned to look at Naruto. Their eyes met and Naruto was a bit weirded out. So far as he could remember, Sasuke had never been so friendly with Naruto back in their Academy days to deliberately look at him, and he certainly didn't know how to read minds. That's when Naruto noticed Sasuke's eyes burning with hatred like Naruto had never seen in his youth. This wasn't annoyance at Naruto for any prank he might have done or annoying comment he made. This was a desire for the time traveling ninja die, flailing in agony.

The next thing Naruto knew, Sasuke leapt at him with his arm charged with lightning chakra. It didn't seem real, Naruto was supposed to be in the past, Sasuke didn't know that jutsu then and he certainly didn't want to kill Naruto yet.

"Damn it!" Naruto shouted as he cocked his arm back. He didn't even think about what he was doing as he made chakra swirl around his palm to form a Rasengan. He Sasuke had too much of a drop on him, Naruto couldn't block without taking a hit.

"Die, Naruto!" Sasuke screamed as he thrusted his Chidori at Naruto's chest.

"Shannaro!" A young girl cried as a red and pink blur sailed right in Sasuke and kicking him away from Naruto before he could do any damage. Sasuke was sent tumbling end over end down the rows of desks before he crashed to the floor right next to Iruka's desk.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked in bewilderment to the pink haired school girl who crouched on top of his desk after kicking the village heart throb halfway across their classroom. Why would she save him? The 12-year-old Sakura wouldn't…she couldn't… That kick was taught from Granny Tsunade's training. The only explanation was…

"You came back with me from the future?" Naruto asked.

"Looks like it. LOOK OUT!" Sakura shouted as a hail of shuriken came flying at the two of them. Apparently 12-year-old Sasuke had remembered his shuriken pouch for target practice lesson in class today.

Naruto grabbed Sakura by the back of her Chinese style dress and yanked the both of them underneath the desk. Children screamed as shuriken embedded themselves in the wooden desks. With no time to waste, Naruto reached for his own kunai pouch only to find that his younger self had forgotten his today.

' _Oh for the love of…'_ Naruto thought before he reached up and snatched his number 2 pencil off of his desk. He rolled over to the edge of the desk. Making a snap judgement, he flicked his wrist around the corner of his cover, all the while infusing his pencil with chakra just like Killer Bee once taught him. The pencil shot out like a senbon needle and skimmed right past Sasuke's chest, drawing blood.

"Okay, that's enough!" Iruka shouted at the top of his lungs. He moved to restrain Sasuke who had started this whole mess then Sasuke slash out his kunai at Iruka's throat. The Chunin instructor only just had enough time to lean back and avoid a fatal slitting before a chair came hurling at Sasuke, how nimbly dodged out of the way and did a cartwheel over Iruka's desk.

"You're not getting away that easy, Uchiha!" Kiba shouted, for he was the one who threw the chair. He then leapt at Sasuke like a ballistic missile. "Fang Over Fang!" Kiba cried as he came at Sasuke like a drill.

Sasuke merely threw another few shuriken at Kiba, hoping to kill him in midair. Unfortunately for him, his shuriken were knocked out of the air by another hail of shuriken thrown by Shino who did in fact remember to bring his shuriken for target practice today.

The last Uchiha then had no choice but to dodge out of the way, letting Kiba crash into the wall. Never one to miss an opportunity to deliver a killing blow, Sasuke was about to stick Kiba's undefended backside with a kunai when he felt his entire body freeze in place.

"Shadow Possession complete!" Shikamaru declared from his kneeling position on top of his desk. "Choji! Finish him off!"

The heir to the Akimichi clan flashed through his clan's signature hand signs and sent his enlarged fist rocketing towards Sasuke from across the room. Without a moment to spare, Sasuke spat a fireball down at his shadow that Shikamaru was using to hold him in place. The ground exploded, the shockwave shattering the windows to the outside where Sasuke leapt out, kicked off a nearby tree branch, and leapt up to the roof.

Naruto and the other kids coughed as the dust settled. "Kiba? Shikamaru? Choji? Shino? You guys are here too?"

"So are we!" Ino declared over the screaming classmates as Iruka tried to herd them all out of the classroom. Ino came out of the dust cloud with Hinata in tow. The latter's veins around her eyes were bulged out, indicating she had her Byakugan activated to keep an eye on Sasuke.

"He's on the roof. But he looks tired." Hinata reported.

"Wait, hold on a damn minute!" Naruto shouted. "Why did you all come back with me? That jutsu was only supposed to send me back. What happened?"

"Worry about that later, Sasuke is getting away." Shikamaru reminded him. Leave it to the planner of the group to keep things in perspective.

"Damn it!" Naruto shouted as he sprinted towards window. Once again, he didn't even think about it as he activated Kurama's chakra. His entire 12 year old body exploded with demon chakra before they settled and covered him head to toe in golden flames with black Sage markings appearing on the surface of his frame. Golden Kyuubi Mode Naruto then leapt out of the window, twirled around, and shot out his chakra arm to grab the ledge of the room like a grappling hook and hoisted Naruto up topside.

Sasuke meanwhile made it to the roof and tried to summon his hawk summons to escape, only to find once he slammed his hand down on the concrete roof that his summons would not appear.

' _What the Hell is going on? I can't summon. I can't activate my Susanoo. Or Amaterasu. I can't even see what moves my enemies are going to make before they make them. It's almost like my Sharingan is back down to two tomes.'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he stumbled across the rooftop of the Academy. _'On top of that, I'm so exhausted. I've never been so exhausted from using so little jutsu. What is wrong with me?'_ He thought before the ground beneath him exploded upwards. Sasuke leapt in a zig zag pattern as the roof top was being punched full of holes by enlarged fists.

"There! There! And There!" Hinata reported from the classroom, letting Choji know where Sasuke was so that he could use his expansion jutsu against him.

' _Son of a bitch. What the Hell kind of jutsu is this?'_ Sasuke thought as he glanced upwards and saw the Hokage monument devoid of the 5th and 6th Hokage head stones. _'It can't be what I'm thinking of. There is no way. That type of jutsu isn't possible.'_

His thoughts were cut short when a golden blur of light leapt over the side of the roof and rolled to a stop 20 yards from where Sasuke was standing. The Uchiha's eyes narrowed at that hated form of Naruto's, the one that made the blond haired Dobe look like some kind of hero demigod. It just pissed Sasuke off even more.

One by one, the rest of Naruto's merry band of do-gooders leapt up to rooftop. Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, and Kiba all stood beside Naruto, forming a crescent line closing in on Sasuke who stood with his back against the Hokage Tower.

"Surrender, Uchiha! We've got you surrounded!" Shikamaru shouted as he and the rest of the Rookie 9 took their combat stances, leaving Sasuke no room to maneuver.

Sasuke responded by arching out his Chidori arm, sending thousands of tiny lightning needles flying out at the group. Naruto responded by arching his own golden chakra arm, catching all of the needles before they could harm anyone.

"Nice trrrrrrrrr-woah…" Naruto slurred as he was suddenly overcome with fatigue. He felt so dizzy that he fell to his hands and knees as his Golden cloak vanished like embers of a fire. And Naruto wasn't the only one. That last jutsu had sent Sasuke falling to his knees as well. The same with all the rest of the Konoha 11; Sakura, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba especially. Only those who hadn't used any jutsus were able to stand up on their own two legs, but just barely.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata gasped.

"Kiba?" Shino inquired.

"Shikamaru? Choji? Forehead?" Ino asked.

None of them could respond. They all felt like they were experiencing their worst case of chakra exhaustion in their lives.

"Nice Genjutsu, Dobe." Sasuke spat as he forced himself to stand up, leaning against the back wall. "But it won't be enough to defeat me. The Leaf will still fall today and you and all your precious friends will die."

"It's not…a Genjutsu…" Naruto wheezed as he tried to stand up with Sakura's help. "We really are…back in the past…"

"Bullshit." Sasuke spat as he struggled to stand up. Neither he, nor any of the other members of the Rookie 9 could summon up the energy to keep fighting. It was as if their younger bodies couldn't handle the fighting styles they were used to by the time they were in their 20s.

"It's true!" Naruto insisted, thinking that this might be his last chance to save Sasuke's soul. "We found a jutsu in one of the Sage's Tombs and it taught us how to send someone back to the past. We thought it was only going to send me back to the past, but it appears not to be the case."

Sasuke looked at Naruto, using his Sharingan to detect any fluctuations in chakra that would prove Naruto was lying, but Naruto's chakra flow remained calm as could be expected for a man pushed to the brink of exhaustion. And even if Sasuke only had access to his level 2 Sharingan, he could still tell that this was no illusion. It was real. It was all real.

"So, that's it huh? So, then I can assume all twelve of us who were in that seal came back to the past." Sasuke stated, his expression unreadable.

' _ **Make that 12 ninjas and a demon.'**_ Kurama thought as the time traveling ninjas soon found themselves completely surrounded by ANBU guards.

 **Author's Note:** _ **Watch out…**_

 **Questions, comments, concerns? Leave a review or send me a PM. Its linked to my email so I usually respond quick. I love to hear from readers and fellow authors, and I love to chat with them.**


	2. Chapter 2: Here We Go Again

**Author's Notes: Hey guys, quick question. Can someone explain to me why there is no Konoha 11 character tag in the menu where you choose who is the main characters in your story? Because I thought I knew for certain that there was when I was setting up this story to publish. I say this because I have the probably ludicrous hope to include the perspectives of every one of the Konoha 11 as the story goes on. Obviously not equally, (sorry Shino fans), but this feels like a missed opportunity. Someone tell the devs on this site to add that in.**

 **Until then, enjoy…**

* * *

Chapter 2: Here we go again

"Taimu Toraberu No Jutsu!" Rock Lee and Tenten shouted together along with the rest of the Konoha 11 as soon as they felt that the time travel jutsu was ready. They both knew perfectly well what this jutsu would cost them. But with the very future of their home literally going up in smoke around them, they both figured that trading their lives for a chance at good triumphing over evil in another timeline was well worth the price.

It wasn't that they didn't fear death. All mortals feared death. It was the final unknown and it was ever present in the day to day lives of ninjas. So they, and everyone else, put death out of their minds. You didn't think about it, you didn't dwell on it. On a mission, you ignored your comrade's death until it was save to grief, then you put it out of your mind forever. Some of the greatest Shinobi in history had all been wrought to ruin because they could not put death out of their minds. Their own deaths…or the deaths of their friends…

Although Lee and Tenten had to admit that acceptance came easier for them. After all, when the first war you ever fought was spent fighting the resurrected corpses of the greatest ninjas from the last five generations, and the fact that one of their best friends was Naruto. Who was, in fact, living proof of the concept of reincarnation (him being the reincarnation of the Second Son of the Sage of Six Paths). You started to sleep a little easier at night. Knowing that there was a purer world beyond this impure world that they were forces to struggle in for a few decades longer. A world where they would be reunited with all their friends again. And their Jounin-sensei Might Gai…

And Neji…their teammate…

Maybe that made the decision easier when it came to possibly sacrificing themselves by using all their chakra to send Naruto 10 years back in time. Then again, no matter how unshakable your faith or how concrete were the facts, you could never completely shake off that thought in the back of your mind. The one dreading that there was nothing beyond this life. Nothing but the darkness.

And silence.

"Naïve!" A voice shouted, snapping Rock Lee out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes just in time to see and bandaged hand flying right towards his face. For all his speed, Lee couldn't react in time to do anything but take the palm thrust to the nose and let it slam his head all the way down the hard ground.

Lee coughed out bile, his head was spinning after that last attack and…wasn't he casting a time travel jutsu just a few seconds ago? He didn't think he was sparing against Naruto. And his whole body ached too much for him to be dead. Then again his entire body felt off. He had hit the ground way too fast. As if he was smaller, lighter…his ankle weights even felt heavier.

"Match point! Neji!" Another voice declared as Lee's eyes shot wide open. This had to be a trick. He knew he couldn't possibly be hearing those two voices again after he recognized them. Lee forced his aching body to prop itself up on his elbows as he looked upon the two faces he had missed the most after so many years.

There, standing upright in his Genin attire with his arms crossed and his face stuck in a disinterested scowl was Lee's deceased teammate and second eternal rival Neji Hyuga. Looking as proud and as arrogant as when Lee had first been paired with him and Tenten on the same Genin team. Off to the side, Lee could see the leader of their Genin team and Lee's beloved mentor, Gai-sensei, giving both Lee and Neji each a youthful thumbs up for their hard fought spar. Even if Neji had basically been handing Lee his green spandex clad ass since the start of the match. Lee broke his gaze away from seeing his father figure sensei standing upright on his own two feet and looked to see Tenten standing behind the two other figures. She was dressed in her old pink sleeveless Chinese style vest from their Genin days and had a look on her face that Lee imagined matched his own. A look of surprise that he wasn't sure should be because he was terrified, ecstatic, or just plain couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Team Gai, back during their Genin years.

"Um…wow…good job Lee…you too, Neji." Tenten said weakly, trying to think up on the spot what she was supposed to say.

Apparently she got it wrong, as Neji actually turned to her and Tenten felt her heart skip a beat when he looked at her with those pearl white pupils. "Good job? Were you watching some other fight? He failed to land a single blow."

A tick mark formed on Tenten's forehead. Her angelic image of Neji was shattered once it all came back to her how much of a stuck up prick he used to be.

"Still, Lee did his best. You can't fault him for that." Tenten defended.

"That's exactly right, Tenten! Youthfulness is cheering on your comrades even when they look to face certain defeat. And Lee! Never giving up in the face of that defeat is what fills your heart with the Springtime of Youth! Never forget it!" Gai-sensei declared, just like old times. Lee couldn't help himself from tearing up.

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed, feeling more carefree than he had in months since the Alliance's defeat in the war had become abundantly clear.

Neji scoffed at the two green spandex wearing fools. If Might Gai wasn't the greatest Jounin instructor in all of the Leaf when it came to Taijutsu, Neji would have immediately requested a transfer the first time he heard one of Gai's Youthful Speeches.

"Uh, Gai-sensei?" Tenten squeaked. "Could me and Lee take a break? There is something I want to talk to him about."

"A break? But training has only just begun! I can see it clearly, the flames of youth burn their very brightest in each of you right now! If you allow yourselves to slack off before you have utilized these flames, they shall dwindle and never reach those heights again!" Gai stated.

"It won't take a minute." Tenten said quickly as she ran up and dragged Lee away by the collar of his jumpsuit. Only after she was certain that the two of them were out of sight from even Neji's Byakugan did she hoist Lee off the ground and slammed his body into the trunk of an oak tree.

"Ah, easy." Lee said before Tenten started shaking him violently back and forth. As if it would make his head pop open and out would fly some sense in the world.

"Lee! Neji is alive and Gai-sensei isn't in a wheelchair! I thought we were all in Heaven but we all look younger and it feels too real to be a dream or a Genjutsu!" Tenten ranted as she shook her boyfriend until finally Lee managed to grab ahold of her arms.

"Calm down, my metal flower. It's going to be okay, just breathe." Lee instructed, playing as the voice of reason when it was usually Tenten's job to snap Lee out of his rants when he became too "youthful."

Tenten took a deep breath and stopped shaking Lee. She didn't let go of his collar though, it being the closest thing she had left to a lifeline in this crazy world.

"Lee…that seal we worked on wasn't an elaborate Genjutsu, right? I mean the historians double checked it, right? Naruto the seal master double checked it. Sakura and Kurenai-sensei double checked it. Naruto's Toad summons double checked it. Everyone who could have possibly double checked it, double checked it, right? It wasn't a jutsu to cast a Genjutsu. It was a teleportation jutsu used to travel back in time. It was supposed to only send Naruto back in time. So why are we very clearly back in time, back when we were just starting out as Genin?" Tenten asked, slightly freaking out again.

"Tenten, calm down. Whatever this is, wherever we are. We are going to be okay." Lee repeated, he ran his hands up and down Tenten's arms and shoulders, the way he always did whenever she was feeling stressed out from work or having her home village being turned into a free-for-all warzone block by block.

Tenten breathed again as Lee moved on to massaging her back and was almost on her way to calming down when another troubling thought occurred to her. "You don't think we are trapped in Sasuke's Genjutsu, are we?"

Lee paused before answering to consider this. He looked up and saw a flock of birds fly by without a care in the world. Seeing such things always reminded him of Neji. Who was apparently alive again.

"No." Lee finally answered. "From all the after action reports I've read about Sasuke, he doesn't set up pleasant illusions to later make them horrible. He just fills his victim's minds with anguish."

"So then we really are in the past…" Tenten said as she looked up from Lee's chest. Her eyes filled with wonder. Tenten was by all accounts a tomboy and a girl who grew up around the forges in her father's metal shop. Watching her father beat red hot steel into kunai, short swords, and shuriken as a form of babysitting. So she was the last girl you would expect to be looking in awe at a warm sunny day out in the woods. Even still, how long had it last been since she had seen the sky without it being choked with ash? Even Lee who cared more for training than he did for admiring the beauty of nature couldn't help but gawk at all the plant life that was permitted to grow outside of wartime.

"We are…" Lee says as he wraps his arm around Tenten's shoulder. The couple enjoyed their first moment of peace and tranquility in what seemed like a lifetime. All before reality set in again.

"Wait…If we came back in time. Then doesn't that mean that the others came back in time too?" Tenten asked. Her response being the echo of an explosion coming from where they both knew was the Hokage Tower and the Academy where their friends back in this time period would be attending class.

"It seems so." Lee replied. Without a second thought, the two Veteran Jounin trapped in their Rookie Genin bodies leapt through the trees towards trouble. Their brief reprieve was over.

* * *

Back on the destroyed Academy roof, Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino had all cornered Sasuke with his back against the wall of the Hokage Tower. Only to be immediately surrounded by ANBU agents.

"All of you! Stand down!" The leading ANBU agent ordered. The time travelers all cursed to themselves. Not now, of all times.

"Last warning! Drop your weapons and raise your hands up high! Or we will use force against you!"

The ANBU agents all stole a quick, nervous glance at their partners nearest to them. What were they doing? These were just kids. They couldn't be expect to attack kids could they? Even if they all were the silent black hands of the Hokage.

Before any of them could contemplate their job any further, the blond kid wearing the blue and orange jacket and matching pants raised his hands up in the air. His friends all glanced at him in confusion.

Faster than even the ANBU could react, the blond boy slammed his palms down to the ground. Glowing lines of chakra flew out of his palms and drew themselves along the concrete rooftop and around the section of wall containing the lone Uchiha.

"No!" The ANBU Captain shouted as he ran to stop the boy, but he was far too late. A seal barrier was erected over the children and the charging ANBU Captain bounced off the forcefield like he ran headlong into a bouncy castle. The Captain skidded back and flashed through some hand signs.

"Wood Style! Hands of the Sage!" The Captain shouted as he finished his jutsu. The trees swaying in the breeze behind him began to twist and shift before they grew at an incredible rate and reached out towards the barrier, forming long piercing fingers that grabbed ahold of the barrier. The fingers wrapped themselves around it only to be rejected the same way that the jutsu castor was moments earlier.

' _Damn it.'_ Captain Tenzo (codenamed Yamato) cursed to himself. This was no Genin level fuinjutsu seal barrier. This was master class. No way that any Academy student should be able to pull this off.

One of the ANBU finally recognized the blond, and his doubts about his job began to fade. _'It's the demon brat…causing trouble again…'_

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the seal…

"Captain Yamato?" Sakura said to herself once she noticed the tree branches surrounding them.

"Naruto, what the Hell?" Shikamaru ranted. "You jump back in time and then you use a jutsu no student would ever be able to use! What about maintaining our cover?"

"Fuck our cover. That's not why I did this so shut up for a minute." Naruto snapped. With the same tone of voice he would have used as Hokage one day.

"You did it to try and talk to me, right?" Sasuke stated, knowing exactly how this song and dance went.

"You got it." Naruto said as he carefully stood back up on shaky legs. Sakura on her part couldn't understand why Naruto was so exhausted. He hadn't used too much of his own chakra. Mostly Kurama's. He shouldn't be exhausted like he was. She had theories of course, but that was a matter for later.

"You're unbelievable, you know that? Its why I've always enjoyed our friendship. I just destroyed your entire village—

"Our village." Naruto corrected.

"Keep telling yourself that." Sasuke replied. "I've killed thousands. I've killed your mentors. I've tried to kill you. And now that you've all managed to send us back to the past you try to get me to change my ways. So I'll bite. What is your line of thought on this. What is going on in Naruto's mind?"

"That this is our very last chance to talk. To make things right this time around. All of us, together, we can make this world a better place…" Naruto pleaded, even sounding to himself like a broken record, but that was who he was.

Sasuke just scoffed. "Oh what? You expect me to just change my plans of becoming the Dark Kage of this world just because I now have a chance to save my brother?"

"Yes." Naruto insisted. "We can save Itachi this time around. We can pardon him of his crimes. Get Danzo convicted or killed. We can defeat Obito, destroy Madara, and prevent Kaguya from ever being released. We can do all of that and shape this world into a better one…" Naruto pleaded as Sasuke just chuckled at his naivety. "Sasuke, I know that in your own twisted way you are trying to bring about peace for the world. But you know it is misguided. You must know. Peace borne of misery and fear will not last. You want to shoulder the hatred of the world, but you will die and the pain you cause will fade."

"And the feelings of love and acceptance you share will fade as well. To be replaced by bitterness and selfishness." Sasuke countered. "Why are we even debating this? We have been going back and forth for years, and neither one of us is going to change our minds. That's why the one who is right is always the one who is left standing. You know this as well as I do. So why waste the chakra erecting this barrier, Naruto?" Sasuke sneered. All eyes turned onto Naruto, even though they all knew the answer.

"I honestly don't know anymore." Naruto admitted. "I guess it just makes me feel better if I am blame free for trying." The blond got into his usual Taijutsu stance as Sasuke dropped into his.

"Finally, you're being honest with yourself." Sasuke sneered.

' _ **Kit. Your chakra nodes are too narrow to support the amount of my chakra required to flow through you during Golden mode. You use any more of my chakra right now and it could split your nodes open. You won't be able to move then. So, you're on your own.'**_ Kurama reported.

' _I figured. At least I'm not the only one handicapped.'_

' _ **No, but you didn't have the chakra to spare to make that barrier either. If this barrier falls, then the bastard Uchiha gets away.'**_ Kurama warned.

' _He won't get away.'_ Naruto took off in a dead sprint towards Sasuke. The Uchiha slashed out with his kunai, Naruto grabbed his forearm and blocked him. Sasuke then threw the blade with his fingertips at Naruto's head. Which he ducked underneath, right into Sasuke's swinging uppercut. Naruto blocked his fist and then landed a headbutt right into Sasuke's nose. The Uchiha stumbled, then hopped to deliver a double foot kick to Naruto's chest. Sasuke spring boarded off of Naruto, but the Jinchuriki was on the Uchiha like white on rice. He threw punch after punch at Sasuke as soon as his feet touched the ground. He kept pushing his opponent back and back, stepping right into Sasuke's personal space and not granting him a moment of reprieve. The two traded strikes. A knee into the gut, a fist to the jaw, grapples and counters and ripostes; all of them telling the same story everyone had known for years. The two of them were dead even.

The rest of the Rookie 9 watched as this familiar battle played out, for a while. Each of them had seen too much death and destruction to be side characters now.

"HAAAAAAAAHHH!" Hinata cried as she ran into the fray. Her arms raised in her clan's famous Gentle Fist style. Naruto saw what she was doing and began taking deliberate steps to circle around Sasuke, all to get him to show his back to Hinata. Which was exactly what the Uchiha wanted.

After taking on more hit from Naruto, Sasuke immediately back stepped and twirled around Hinata as she came at him with her chakra enhanced palms. The Hyuga heiress cursed her younger self. Her older muscles were too underdeveloped and lacked proper training to keep pace with the Sasuke from their graduating year. She might has well have been standing still as Sasuke danced right behind her and kicked her right into Naruto's path. The two collided and tripped.

Sasuke wasted no time running towards the rest of the Rookie 9. Two thirds of which were down for the count for using their signature jutsus earlier. But not Shino and Ino.

The Yamanaka heiress tried to aim a jutsu her younger self could use without difficulty, but Sasuke was running too fast for her to fire off her Mind Transfer Jutsu. She was forced to engage the Uchiha in hand to hand combat. Which she had fallen out of favor with after years in the field. She blocked two strikes to the head, but momentum favored Sasuke as he broke through her defenses and knocked her to the ground.

He was then met with a swarm of beetles as Shino had called upon his entire hive to subdue the enemy.

Like a man possessed, Sasuke leapt right into the cloud of beetles. Using the very last of his chakra, he charged his chakra with lightning nature, which kept the bugs off of him as he dove through them.

' _That fatso had better have one or I am screwed.'_ Sasuke thought as he rolled out of the cloud of beetles. The other kids tried to throw their own punches at him, but none of their bodies were up to his standards to be a threat. There was a reason Sasuke was his year's Rookie of the Year.

He dashed right at Choji who managed to raise his arms up in a defense. Once again, exactly what Sasuke wanted. In a flash, Sasuke's snake like hands searched Choji's pockets until he finally came upon the tiny glass bottle he had been looking for. He ran past Choji without even throwing a single blow at the Akimichi heir. Choji blinked and then felt his pockets when he noticed something was missing.

"What the? Why did?" Choji wondered aloud before looking up and seeing the glass bottle held in between Sasuke's thumb and index finger. The same corked glass bottle that Choji's father had given his younger self in case of emergencies, or if ever Choji ran out of high calorie potato chips.

It was a bottle filled to the brim with his clan's special batch of Military Ration Pellets. Designed to be ingested by shinobi in the field to reinvigorate them with energy and replace their lost chakra instantly. And Sasuke was downing the pellets like they were chocolate bits.

"Shit! Stop him! He's got his chakra back!" Choji cried out. Naruto had already recovered and was on a dead sprint towards Sasuke, but it was too late. Naruto ran right into Sasuke's outstretched arm and was picked up by his throat.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out as she tried to stand up, but her use of her chakra enhanced strength earlier had torn all her muscles and she was just now feeling the effects.

"Last on my list…Dobe." Sasuke sneered with his eyes whirling with his reactivated Sharingan. He held up his free hand with his newly charged Chidori. No one else could get to him in time. Then the force field began to waver.

Outside of the seal, the ANBU seal team had finally managed to undo the seal from the outside. Ignoring the insistence of his Advisors, the Third Hokage stood next to Captain Yamato as the both of them oversaw the seal melting away as it became overpowered by counterseals.

"I've never seen fuinjutsu this intricate before. Not since working with the Toad Sannin." Yamato praised. Hiruzen the third Hokage took a long drag from his pipe as he contemplated who was behind this unprovoked attack. The Jounin and other ANBU on the scene were already collecting testimony from the startled Academy students and from their instructor Iruka Umino. Who wanted it on record that Sasuke Uchiha attacked Naruto Uzumaki first. Not the other way around as so many female students were reporting.

Hiruzen sighed. Even if this wasn't young Naruto's fault, the Civilian and Clan Councils would have a field day with this. The old Hokage worried that today his protection of Naruto might not be enough.

As soon as the seal came undone, a blue blur leapt out of the bubble and over the heads of the entire ANBU force.

"We've got a runner!" One ANBU squad captain shouted as he and three others gave chase. The main force concentrated on the 8 students that remained inside the seal.

"Subdue them, but do not harm them!" Hiruzen ordered. At once, 20 ANBU agents descended upon the remaining students. They pounced on them like tigers would their prey. Those that were standing were forced to the ground and handcuffed behind their backs. Anyone like Kiba who struggled against his subduers was rewarded with a face full of concrete. Within 10 seconds all of the students had been declared nullified. All except one.

"Stop resisting!" The ANBU agent shouted as he brought his baton staff down on Naruto's undefended ribs. The young Jinchuriki was not in any way resisting. He was curled up into a ball. Tanking the hits while the demon hating ANBU agents took their brief window of opportunity to beat on the demon spawn they blamed for the deaths of all their loved ones some 12 years ago.

"Naruto!" Ino shouted from her prone position a few feet away.

"Cut it out you bastards! He's not resisting!" Kiba shouted, only to be disciplined himself.

"Stop it!" Sakura shrieked as Naruto took another hit to the head. He couldn't hear his friends crying out for him anymore. Or the sounds of Yamato, the 3rd Hokage, and the few sympathetic ANBU agents all pulling Naruto's brutalizers off of him. It was all so familiar to his earlier childhood. When he couldn't outrun the mobs.

Still, his mind was preoccupied with this trip down memory lane. His thoughts remained with Sasuke, and the last words he had given Naruto right as the barrier fell.

' _Next time, Dobe. Watching you fail a second time will make it all the sweeter.'_ Sasuke smirked.

Naruto let his head rest towards the south, the direction where he had last scene Sasuke headed.

' _Next time, Teme…it'll be the last time.'_ Naruto thought to himself. Knowing that this was going to be it. No more surrenders or compromises. No trying to change anyone's mind. They both knew it. This was going to end with one of them dead, or the other.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Is this a good spot to end the chapter on? Like, in my time spent writing with Cmartin, we usually go for around 10k-20k words in a single chapter. The way we write chapters is a lot more dialogue based though. Which has its ups and downs for certain. Writing this story on my own and getting feedback from other stories I write for art college, I've noticed that I tend to focus a lot on descriptions. Which has been a source of praise and criticism for my works. I think I've been hitting a nice balance between too much and too little descriptions so far, but please, tell me your thoughts.**

 **Are my descriptions working? Is 5k a good chapter length if it means more frequent updates? Do you want the chapters longer? Is Sasuke or anyone else acting too Out Of Character? Bearing in mind that Sasuke is going to be evil in this story. Does anything else not make sense?**

 **Review or PM me to let me know.**


	3. Chapter 3: Escape from the Leaf

**Author's Note: Hey guys, welcome to the 3** **rd** **chapter. For those who care, I'd like to address two reviews I received for the second chapter. From ahmadaziz and Gen. Malasise.**

 **Reading your reviews, mostly Gen. Malasise's, about not beating the dead horse that is the villagers beating a younger Naruto, I had to stop and realize, "that's a good point." It certainly has been overused in fanfiction and there really is no mention of the villagers ever taking it that far in the manga. It's easy to assume that, which led to its implementation in fanfiction. Personally, I think it makes it more dramatic. Although his story was never going to be about Naruto winning the village's approval back as it will be him and his friends defeating Sasuke.**

 **That being said, I already wrote a later chapter that just so happens to involve the villagers being dicks to Naruto. So for the time being, I'm going to have to keep the ignorant villagers around. At least until the story begins in earnest. By then the real adventures will begin. Just a few more wacks until then.**

 **And now…I take you to Sasuke fleeing the village.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Escape from the Leaf

' _Where is he? I know he was actively spying here back then.'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop above the busy city streets of the Leaf. Most of the civilians didn't even bat an eye when they heard the sound of kids and adults leaping overhead. Their attention was focused on facing the Academy where an explosion went off.

Sasuke leapt past a Jounin squad that didn't even give him a second look before they rushed off to help whatever was going on at the Academy.

"Hey, kid! Stop!" An ANBU shouted at Sasuke. He and his team had finally caught up to the Uchiha.

"Shit." Sasuke cursed as he ducked down into the nearest alley way.

"I said stop!" The ANBU shouted again as he sailed over the alleyway. His second in command then kicked off of a water tower and swan dived into the alleyway to continue the chase while the rest of the ANBU tried to circle around and cut the academy student off.

Sasuke pumped as much chakra into his legs as he could spare. He might have downed enough chakra pills to give a full grown Jounin a heart attack, but that didn't mean his young body could outrun an ANBU team for long.

' _Damn them.'_ Sasuke cursed. _'Fucking years of planning, deception, negotiations, and perfectly executed strategies thrown to the wayside. My plans are back to square one. On top of that! I've lost all my advanced Kekki Genki powers. I'll have to undergo the same emotional trauma just to unlock my full potential. I'll also have to kill my brother again just to get his eyes and unlock Amaterasu! Not to mention Susanoo and the Rinnigan!'_

Sasuke leapt over a stack of crates and threw them to the ground, spilling the contents all over the alley floor. Not that it slowed down the ANBU agent wearing (of all things) a Walrus mask. He just did a front flip and continued his chase.

' _I shouldn't have fled. Maybe if I surrender now and play the innocent victim I could bide my time until Orochimaru seeks me out.'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he made a hard right into a narrow passageway. _'No, dumb idea. I already foolishly attacked Naruto in the middle of our classroom. Iruka saw me attack him. I'll be questioned and if they get me in a Yamanaka Mind Probing Session then they will surely detain me and stop me from fulfilling my mission. Even if they don't. The Dobe and his friends will hound me and I cannot take them all on in my current state. I have no choice, I have to get to Orochimaru. He will protect me and help me unlock my potential. Then I can make steps towards the destruction of the Ninja System.'_

The Walrus masked ANBU rounded the same corner Sasuke had taken and cursed when he saw the pathway empty.

"Damn it, lost him." The ANBU agent cursed just as one of his teammates landed besides him.

"We spotted the Uchiha heading East. We think he is going back to his Clan Compound." The Tanuki masked ANBU reported.

"I just saw the kid ducking down this pathway." Walrus said.

"Yeah, he jumped back up to the roofs. Poor kid is probably running scared. Doesn't know what is going on." Tanuki replied.

"I don't know. He's not acting like he is just frightened. He is deliberately trying to run away from us."

"Walrus. He is just an Academy student. You saw the way he was being cornered by all those other kids. Now he's being chased by some guys in bone white masks with dead eyes? We ought to ditch these masks to show him we mean no harm." Tanuki suggested.

"Whatever, let's just catch this kid. I swear, this is worse than having to catch Naruto after one of his pranks." Walrus said before he and Tanuki flash stepped back up to the roof and sprinted after their other two teammates.

As soon as they were gone, the real Sasuke stepped out of the shadows to ensure that the coast was clear. He activated his Sharingan for just long enough to check for hidden chakra signatures and saw none.

' _Thank you, Dobe. Your Shadow Clone jutsu is as insanely useful as ever.'_ Sasuke thought as he downed a few more Military Ration Pellets. They each tasted like the bitterest chocolate anyone could imagine, but they were the leg up that Sasuke would need if he wanted to get out of the Leaf in one piece.

' _I need to find Kabuto. If they've locked down the Leaf, then Orochimaru's favorite double agent is the only one who could smuggle me out of the village and take me to the Snake Sannin.'_ Sasuke thought as he carefully walked down the alleyways.

He passed by some trashcans before he realized he was in one of the apartment districts of the village. A thought occurred to Sasuke and he looked down at his clothes. He was wearing his old attire from this time period. Blue sandals, white cargo shorts, his white fireproof armguard sleeves, and his high collar deep blue T-shirt that he knew had his clan's white and red paper fan symbol designed on the back. He might as well be walking around with a giant target on his back.

' _Too risky to try to maintain an illusion.'_ Sasuke thought to himself. _'And too risky to run to my apartment to change my clothes.'_ He had no choice. He opened the trashcan and his face shattered like glass when the stench hit him.

' _Definitely not that one.'_ Sasuke thought as he closed the lid and moved on to the next bin. It had less of a stench, but contained only old newspapers and magazines. Sasuke grabbed a handful of the magazines and threw them in the recycling bin. He finally struck gold with the third trash bin at the end of the alleyway. Sasuke could see the villagers slowly walking down the street and keeping on the alert in case another explosion went off or the sirens blared indicating that they were under attack. No one paid any mind to another kid shifting through the trash. Sasuke opened up the bin and discovered a stack of torn and worn out civilian shirts that looked about his size. Sasuke grabbed the least tattered looking shirt and nearly smiled when he spotted a Leaf Shinobi Rain Poncho. Probably owned by a ninja husband of whatever mother threw out her son's ruined shirts.

Sasuke threw off his Uchiha clan T-shirt and dawned the mystery kid's old T-shirt and then his father's poncho. The bottom of the poncho was stained with mud and blood, but it was springtime, no one would give a second look to a short ninja walking around in a rain poncho. He stuffed his old shirt into the bottom of the trash bin where his scent would get lost among the other family's scent. Then he dawned his new hood and slipped into the crowd of civilians.

* * *

"Take them to my office. Don't let anyone interfere unless they have a personal approval from me." The 3rd Hokage ordered as he stood over the ANBU that had roughed up Naruto.

Another ANBU agent wearing a tiger mask nodded before passing on the orders.

"As for these lot. Throw them in jail for excessive brutality. I can't even look at them right now." Hiruzen snapped.

"Demon Lover!" The leading racist among the group shouted before he was dragged off.

Hiruzen shook his head. 12 years since the tragedy and people still could not let go. It was understandable with the civilians who did not know the first thing about chakra or Tailed Beasts, but the higher ranked Shinobi should have all known better.

' _Some days like this I really question my own judgement in keeping Naruto's heritage a secret. His father had many enemies, but because of the Kyuubi, Naruto has more enemies inside his home village than outside of it.'_ Hiruzen thought to himself.

"Lord Hokage." One of the Medic ANBU agents ran up and bowed before the leader of the Leaf village and the entire Leaf Military Forces.

"What is it?" Hiruzen asked before he chewed on the tip of his pipe.

"These children are all showing signs of Chakra Exhaustion. I must insist that they be taken to Konoha Hospital immediately for treatment." The ANBU Medic reported.

"Very well. Have them be treated in the same patient room with ANBU guarding inside the room and outside of it. Let the medical staff know that they are to treat ALL of the patients equally." Hiruzen emphasized for absolute clarity. He would tolerate no more of village's bigotry today.

"Yes, sir." The ANBU Medic nodded before passing on the new orders.

Shikamaru didn't even bother trying to struggle against his restraints. He knew they were all caught and were too low on chakra to do more than limp around even if they were freed. All they could do now was bide their time until the ANBU caught Sasuke and interrogated them all. The Hokage and the Councils would want to know why Naruto had managed to pull off such a powerful barrier jutsu and why the heirs to every other major ninja clan in the Leaf had decided to attack the last loyal Uchiha to the Leaf. It didn't matter what punishment laid in store for eight of them. So long as the ANBU kept Sasuke in the Leaf than they could deal with him at a later date. They would be released into their parent's custody, hopefully under house arrest. Then the 8 of them could sneak out of their homes later. Slip into Sasuke's apartment (if he didn't get thrown in Jail for trying to skewer Naruto with a Chidori) and overpower him. Naruto had his chance to reason with Sasuke already. Naruto was a fool, but he wasn't an idiot. Shikamaru knew that the Hokage-to-be knew when the chips were all down, killing Sasuke was the only way forward. He knew too much and he was far too dangerous to be left alive. Hell, without Sasuke, their entire mission could be declared a success. They could focus entirely on the coming 4th Shinobi War and remember to include the minor ninja nations in the Shinobi Alliance afterwards.

The Nara heir was brought out of his thoughts when he was suddenly hoisted by his pants and jacket collar onto a stretcher. Seems that they were going to take all of them to a medical facility, either the underground ANBU one or the Konoha General Hospital. This was good, they all needed medical attention.

Shikamaru shifted his head over to view the 3rd Hokage standing a mere 20 yards away from him. The Nara was in awe. He didn't have the personal relationship with the 3rd Hokage that Naruto did, but everyone in his generation looked up to the 3rd Hokage as a kind of grandfather figure. He was the Professor of the Leaf. The man who knew every jutsu that the Leaf village had in its arsenal. He was also the father of Shikamaru's late Jounin-sensei.

' _Scratch that. Ex-late Jounin-sensei.'_ Shikamaru corrected himself. He had to remember that Asuma-sensei was alive again. But he also had to avoid thinking out his future Sensei. If he did than he honestly might start tearing up and wouldn't be as effective as the group's planner. In these crucial first few hours, he had to remain on his A game.

Shikamaru then witnessed another ANBU agent with a walrus mask land at the 3rd Hokage's feet. His curiosity got the better of the future Hokage advisor and he channeled some of his precious chakra into his ears.

"Lord Hokage, we lost Sasuke Uchiha. He used a Shadow Clone to give us the slip. My squad leader requests additional ANBU squads to help search the village for him."

' _NO!'_ Shikamaru thought, _'God damn it, no!'_

All around him, the rest of his friends who had overheard the ANBU's report reacted to Sasuke being on the loose.

"Request denied. Send teams of whatever available teams of the regular forces to track him down. He might have attacked his fellow classmates, but he is a scared Academy student. More teams of ANBU agents would frighten him." The 3rd Hokage wisely stated.

"NO!" Another voice called out. Shikamaru had to shift his head to see that it was Sakura who had cried out. The pink haired girl struggled against her own exhausted body.

"Send Hunter Ninjas after that bastard! He cannot be allowed to leave the village!" Sakura pleaded with the Hokage as two startled ANBU agents held her up in a stretcher.

"Forehead, be quiet!" Ino shouted, trying to calm her best friend down. They were already under enough suspicion as it was.

"I will not! Lord Hokage, please! You need to send all of the Inuzuka clan after him if you have to!" Sakura shouted. "Send the Hyuga and the Aburame too! Anyone who can track!"

The Lord Hokage approached Sakura with an air of uncertainty. "Curious that you would be so adamant about us hunting down your fellow classmate." He stated. "Do you know something that we do not?"

"Sakura, please don't." Hinata pleaded.

"No! She's got the right idea! They need to know before it's too late!" Kiba argued.

"We can't tell them!" Naruto argued back.

"We don't have a choice anymore!" Shino countered.

As this was going on, Shikamaru had to bite his own lip. Should they tell them? The Third Hokage, probably, but not every here out in the open like this. There were too many ways this information could spiral out of control. But their window of opportunity was closing every second.

Just then, a glimmer of hope. Out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru could see two figures leaping onto the rooftop to see what all the commotion was. One in black sweatpants and a pink sleeveless top with two hair buns, and the other with a bowl cut hairdo and a green spandex jumpsuit.

"Hey, you two. This is a restricted area." One ANBU lectured the two newcomers. "Go control the crowds with the rest of the Genin."

"Please let us through, those are our friends. What are you doing with them?" Tenten pleaded.

"Lee! Tenten!" Shikamaru shouted at the top of his voice. The two Genin turned to face him.

"Sasuke came back with us! He's still in the Leaf! He doesn't have his full Sharingan! You have to capture him!" Shikamaru ordered.

"What is that? What is he talking about?" The ANBU standing near Lee demanded.

"It's all up to you now! You're our last hope!" Shikamaru ordered.

The two Genin looked at one another. Then all the ANBU on the rooftop looked at them. And then the two of them took off.

"Wait, damn it!" The ANBU they talked to shouted. "Lord Hokage, permission to go after them."

"Are we going to be arresting all the children under the age of 13 now?" The Third Hokage asked.

"Sir, they clearly know something." The ANBU argued.

"Yes, this entire situation is getting fishier by the minute." Hiruzen stated. "Take these children to the hospital. Lock down the village and find Sasuke Uchiha. He is the key to all of this." The Third Hokage then walked up to Shikamaru's stretcher and looked him in the eye.

"I fear you and your friends have a lot of explaining to do." Hiruzen warned.

"Trust me, sir." Shikamaru answered. "You have no idea."

* * *

Sometime later, Sasuke Uchiha was standing outside of a Dango shop contemplating his good fortunes. Orochimaru had always told Sasuke had he possessed the devil's luck for being born into the Uchiha clan and therefore was blessed with so many gifts. One of those gifts apparently being finding exactly who he was looking for just a few blocks away from where he officially began his search.

There, sitting inside the run-of-the-mill Dango shop you could find on every other street corner in the Leaf was Kabuto and the rest of his fake Genin teammates. All of them trying to keep up the appearance of being Genin enjoying a team building snack of the popular treat.

Kabuto was in his traditional purple outfit with a lighter purple sash across his waist. He few distinguishing traits as a Genin were the Jounin fingerless gloves with the metal plate sewn onto the back of his hands and his full moon spectacle glasses. His other teammates were all wearing similar outfits and the same type of glasses. Except they both had their nose and faces covered like bandits from a western. Plus, one of them had shaded glasses. Sasuke recognized him, although not his name. He had fought against Sasuke in the preliminary fights of the 3rd Test of the Chunin Exams. He sucked the chakra out of Sasuke's system just by touching him. On top of that, Sasuke had his chakra handicapped by Orochimaru's curse seal. Even still, Sasuke had been victorious in defeating him. The other one had been defeated by the Puppet user from the Sand as Sasuke vaguely remembered.

None of it mattered. What did matter was if they could get Sasuke out of the Leaf and into Orochimaru's care. Plus, how many of them would Sasuke have to sacrifice in order to make it to the Sound village.

The Uchiha stepped into the Dango shop and ignored the greetings from the owner as he stepped directly into Kabuto's line of sight.

The double agent looked up from his plate of half eaten Dango and adjusted his glasses upon seeing this hooded stranger.

"Can I help you?" Kabuto asked.

"Yes, you can drop everything and take me to your master, right now." Sasuke demanded, making Kabuto sit up a little straighter.

"I don't know what business you have with my Jounin-sensei, but I'm afraid I don't know where he is at the moment." Kabuto answered.

"I'm not talking about your cover team leader. I'm talking about your true master. The Snake himself." Sasuke stated as he activated his Sharingan and let them shine through the shadows cast by his hood.

"Sasuke Uchiha?" Kabuto asked, keeping up his cover. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You know damn well what I am talking about. Your master wants my body and my eyes. And I am giving them to him in exchange for power. I want to be able to kill my brother. But you know this already, you've been keeping tabs on me for your master. As well as gathering information for your upcoming invasion of the Leaf in one year." Sasuke stated, making Kabuto's eyes go wide.

"Hey, what's he talking about?" The Dango shop owner asked in confusion. "Something about invading the Leaf?"

"Yoroi, Misumi, take care of the bill." Kabuto ordered as he stood up to escort Sasuke out of the shop. Letting his two teammates close the shop's doors behind them and turn the sign over to CLOSED.

"I don't know where you got such crazy notions in your head, Uchiha. If this is all a trick by the 3rd Hokage to get me to reveal my master's plans and the location of his bases than you are going to be disappointed when we take you to our base where the ANBU cannot find you, or rescue you." Kabuto explained calmly as he and Sasuke walked down the street shoulder to shoulder.

"Do I look like I am resisting?" Sasuke asked. "If I was, I would have taken that syringe you have poking my sides and jabbed it in your throat already."

Kabuto smiled as he pulled away the needle laced with knock out drugs he had ready to use on Sasuke. For an Academy student, the Uchiha prodigy was exceptionally perceptive.

"You'll forgive me if I am hesitant to fully trust you. You must admit that from my perspective this meeting is very unexpected." Kabuto said.

"Today has been full of unexpected things. Now can you get me out of the Leaf or not?"

"I can, but we must move fast. The explosion at the Academy has put the village on high alert." Kabuto said as Yoroi and Misumi caught up with the both of them. "If I may take a leap of faith, I assume the explosion was your doing?"

"And what if it was?" Sasuke responded.

"Then you are even more fascinating than your personality profile suggests, Sasuke Uchiha." Kabuto smiled as the four of them ducked into an alleyway and took off sprinting.

* * *

A few blocks away, Rock Lee and Tenten were frantically searching from the rooftops for Sasuke. So far they hadn't been able to spot anyone wearing a blue shirt, much less the Uchiha bastard himself.

"Oh, this is impossible!" Tenten exclaimed in frustration. The two of them were a part of the Combat Team, not the Tracking Team. If either of them were Kiba, Hinata, or Shino this might be doable. Heck, if Naruto was with them he could send out an army of Shadow Clones to search every nook and cranny of the Leaf simultaneously. Hell, if Shikamaru was with them he could have just correctly guessed exactly where Sasuke would be with the help of his genius brain. What were the weapons girl and the Taijutsu expert of the Konoha 11 supposed to do? Bust a wall down to see if Sasuke was hiding behind it?

"Come on, Tenten, we can't give up!" Lee exclaimed as he leapt to the norther corner of the rooftop they were currently standing atop of. His eyes scanned the crowds but sighted neither black spiky hair nor the Uchiha symbol among the sea of civilians walking along the streets. Neither did he spot Sasuke jumping on the rooftops.

"Our friends are counting on us. We cannot falter until we are certain that we've failed. To any less would be unyouthful." Lee declared, making Tenten huff in annoyance. Mostly because as tiresome as it was to listen to Lee whenever he went on about youth like their sensei, he did have a point.

"Well said, Lee!" Might Gai declared as he and Neji landed on the rooftop out of nowhere.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed, for once not out of joy at seeing his master.

"What are you both doing here?" Tenten asked.

"We followed you of course. We both heard the explosion and tried to find you two, but you were nowhere to be found. I them deduced that your Springtimes of Youth compelled you both to run towards the explosion to help out your fellow Shinobi. Which led us to the Academy where we were told you two were sent off to help track down one Sasuke Uchiha. And here we are." Gai explained with a shining smile.

"Yes, that's right, Gai-sensei. We are tracking down Sasuke Uchiha. And we must find him before he escapes the Leaf village." Lee stated.

"Escape? Why would he escape the Leaf village? Moreover, why would a supposedly loyal Uchiha run from the ANBU. Just what is going on?" Neji demanded to know.

Lee and Tenten looked at each other for a split second.

"We can't tell you." Lee said. "But we must catch Sasuke as soon as possible. Lives are at stake."

"Lives? Lee, Tenten, what is this about?" Gai asked, turning serious for a second.

"We really can't say." Tenten stressed. "Just please trust us, Gai-sensei." She begged.

The Youthful Jounin-sensei looked at his two students. Even if he had only known them for a little over six months, he looked at them as he would his brothers-in-arms, perhaps even as his children. He loved his Genin students. Even Neji, as stubborn as he was to not accept his Springtime of Youth.

"Of course, I trust you." Gai declared with a thumb's up and a winning smile. The two Jounin turned Genin felt their hearts swell with pride to have their old master back.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried as he ran up to embrace his surrogate father.

"Lee!" Gai cried as he held his favorite student and surrogate son in his arms. Neji and Tenten just groaned at their display.

' _Why do I have to be dating such a weirdo?'_ Tenten thought to herself as she slapped her forehead.

"Tch." Neji scoffed as he turned away from their display. Tenten's annoyed glare softened into a smile. It really was Neji. He was alive again. After 5 long years.

"What do you say, Neji? You're gonna help us too, right?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know why you're asking me. It is our job as Leaf ninja to find Sasuke and that is what we will do. Why you feel the need to be vague about it I don't know and I hardly care." Neji said as he activated his Byakugan: The All Seeing Eye. The veins around his eyes popped and he began to see the chakra networks of everyone within 50 yards, even through walls.

"Hmmm?" Neji muttered when he glanced something out of the corner of his vision.

"What is it?" Tenten asked while Lee and Gai continued to hug.

"I think I see something suspicious." Neji responded before he leapt off of the rooftop over to the other side of the street. Tenten followed after him, followed by Lee and Gai closely behind her.

Neji leapt from rooftop to rooftop heading south before finally stopping over a mildly famous Dango shop that Tenten knew about.

"Master Gai, there is a dead man alone in that Dango shop." Neji reported as he looked down at his feet. The three of them all knew he was looking through the ceilings.

"What? Is there anyone else inside the shop?" Gai demanded.

"No. He is alone. And he died very recently." Neji reported.

"Alright, you three stay up here. I'll check this out first." Gai ordered, wanting to check for any booby traps the killer might have left without putting his students in harm's way.

"Very well." Neji nodded.

"Lee? Tenten?" Gai asked even as Lee and Tenten were already outside of the door of the Dango shop.

Tenten slid the sliding front door to the shop open by a hair's width and traced a fine kunai along its edges. This was a tried and true method Jounin used to check for booby traps. Upon completing her inspection and confirming that there was no tripwire, Tenten opened the door fully. Lee then slipped inside quiet as a cat. He did his own quick visual inspection. Running his fingertips underneath the countertops, checking for paper bombs or hidden seals. His inspection led him into the backroom where the owner kept the refrigerator.

Tenten stepped inside and could already smell the faint trace of iron lingering in the air.

"Tenten! Back here!" Lee shouted. Tenten dashed into the back room where Lee had the refrigerator door opened and was kneeling over the warm body of the Dango shop owner.

This disturbed Tenten. Not because it was a corpse. She had seen more than her fair share in her lifetime. No, she recognized this owner from later on in her timeline. She and the rest of Team Gai would stop to grab a snack here once or twice after they had become Chunin. She and Lee had even gone on a date here to this exact store. Neither of them were friends with the owner, but they knew that he shouldn't be dead yet.

' _Has it even been an hour yet? And already we've screwed up the timeline.'_ Tenten thought. She shook her head. No time to get caught up on theories and paradoxes, they had work to do.

"Tenten…" Lee said with pain in his voice. Indicating that his thoughts were alike with hers.

"I know. But if he was killed today. You can bet that, that snake Uchiha had something to do with this." Tenten deduced.

"My thoughts exactly, but something seems off about him. I can't place what though." Lee said.

Tenten took another look at the body and for the hundredth time in her life wished that she had the chakra control to have qualified for Lady Tsunade's medical training. Maybe then she would have at least been trained as a coroner. Then it hit Tenten like Temari's fan back in the Chunin preliminaries.

"He was killed with a curve tipped kunai." Tenten said automatically. Noting the exit wound on the slash mark along his throat. Mock Tenten all you want for only being known as the weapons girl, but the girl freaking knew her weapons.

"Lee, Tenten, what is the meaning of this?" Gai asked as he and Neji entered the backroom.

"Um…we are just investigating the crime scene." Tenten said.

"I told you to wait for me to go in first." Gai said.

"We didn't hear you." Lee admitted. In truth, they had gone inside the second that Neji had mentioned dead body. One of the many jobs entrusted to Jounin and to a lesser extent Chunin was crime scene investigation. In an experienced shinobi's line of work, it paid to know how to autopsy a corpse by visual glance alone. But Lee and Tenten were supposed to be fresh faced Genin. They were supposed to shiver away from dead bodies, not kneel over them like they had a hundred times before.

"And what if there were booby traps?" Gai argued.

"We already checked." Lee said before he could stop himself.

"When did you learn how to do that?" Gai asked.

"Back in the Academy." Tenten answered quickly.

"Ah, of course." Gai said, realizing that he was overthinking it.

"Sensei, this man was killed with a curved tip kunai. Of Konoha design. I'm certain of it." Tenten said, getting them back on track.

"How can you tell?"

"The entry wound on the end of the cut." Tenten pointed towards the slash across the man's throat. "Only Leaf Medical Ninjas use kunai like this. The Mist ninja also have their own variation of a curved tip, but theirs has multiple hooks to double as emergency fishing hooks."

"Good eye, Tenten." Gai praised before he leaned forward to sniff the wound. While his sense of smell wasn't nearly on par with Kakashi or anyone from the Inuzuka clan, but that didn't exclude him from sending chakra to his nostrils to enhance his sense of smell.

"Not that this isn't important, but does this have anything to do with us tracking down the Uchiha?" Neji inquired.

"Yes. We're certain of it." Lee stated, surprising Neji. He always assumed that Lee was an over enthusiastic fool. He would never expect that tone of voice from the self-proclaimed Green Beast of the Leaf.

Tenten nodded. Even though they never knew Sasuke to use this special kind of kunai. It couldn't be a coincidence that them all jumping back in time would lead to this store owner being murdered by a random mugger. Or could it?

Tenten shook her head, this was their only lead, they needed to follow up on it. But why this specific kunai? The only ninjas from the Leaf who even bothered with this specific kunai were medical ninjas, specifically those from the undertaker squad. But who did Sasuke know that was a medical ninja?

Tenten's eyes went wide. "Kabuto."

"What was that?" Neji asked.

"I think Sasuke met up with Kabuto and his two other teammates." Tenten said.

"Who is Kabuto?" Gai asked.

"A medical ninja and a traitor to the Leaf." Lee answered. "If Sasuke truly has met up with him, than he will try to flee the village and head for Orochimaru's Sound Village."

Neji raised an eyebrow while Gai's blood ran cold.

"Orochimaru? The Snake Sannin?" Neji asked, having heard about him from his history lessons back in the Academy.

"Yes. He was once the star pupil of the 3rd Hokage before he fled the village. He was discovered to be researching forbidden jutsu and performing inhumane experiments." Gai explained. "But that doesn't explain why Sasuke would want to go to him as you say."

Lee and Tenten looked at one another. They were skating on thin ice. If they told Gai and Neji anything more, they would have to tell them everything. Shikamaru had spent the last several weeks lecturing Naruto on the theorized dangers of letting anyone know that he was from the future and that he should keep that a secret at any cost. Should they not follow his example? Even if it meant that Sasuke might get away as a result?

"Gai-sensei…" Tenten began.

"Tenten, what is really going on? Where are you and Lee getting all this information? The both of you are acting like two completely different people."

Tenten tightened her fist. She wanted to just tell him and get it over with. Let the whole world know. But she knew that they couldn't.

"Sensei, as soon as we catch Sasuke, we will tell you everything, we promise." Lee stated, making Tenten snap her head towards him.

Gai looked at his two pupils with mistrust in his eyes, something they had never seen from him before in their lives. "Very well. I've got the murderer's scent. We need to hurry if we mean to keep it."

Gai dashed out of the store, followed by Neji after he gave the two of them one last glance. The two shinobi looked at one another before sprinting after their teammates.

* * *

Sasuke meanwhile looked down emotionlessly at the back of the female ANBU's head. He had his sandal pressed against shoulder blades and a string of ninja wire wrapped around her neck. The poor girl couldn't have been older than twenty, yet all she could do was furiously scrap at the wiring buried in her skin, cutting off her oxygen. The two of them were deep in the nearby training forest on the eastern edge of the Leaf village. All around them, Kabuto and his two teammates were dispatching the rest of the ANBU squad that was sent to find Sasuke. Yoroi and Misumi had also managed to sneak up on their ANBU agents and bind them in headlocks. Yoroi was using his unholy gift to drain his burly ANBU agent of his chakra just by touching his skin. While Misumi used his special ability of unhinging all his joints to wrap his entire body around his opponent like a snake constricting around his prey. As for Kabuto, well he had already killed the ANBU team leader and was wiping off the blood from his glasses.

"Hold still, you little…" Yoroi cursed before the ANBU agent knocked his head back right into Yoroi's nose. "Aah! Son of a bitch!" The ANBU agent struggled further against the traitor even as he felt his energy being drained faster every second. He looked up just in time to see Kabuto standing in front of him and plunging a curved tip kunai into his throat.

"Damn it, Kabuto. I had him." Yoroi cursed as the ANBU agent fell to his knees, pathetically trying to cover up his throat.

"Save it. Getting Sasuke into Lord Orochimaru's fold is more important than your sense of bravado." Kabuto lectured as he walked over to Misumi who was being slammed into the back of a tree and stabbed his victim in the heart.

Meanwhile, Sasuke's ANBU finally gave in and collapsed into a mud puddle. Her blood seeping into the brown water as her last few breaths bubbled up to the surface.

' _One more needless death. All on you, Naruto. You and the rest who could not accept the truth.'_ Sasuke thought.

He stood back up and felt a shooting pain in his stomach reverberate all throughout his body. He clutched himself and reached for his bottle of chakra pills. He popped three of them in his mouth and sucked down the pain. Kabuto looked on with concern.

' _How could this brat possibly be the future vessel of Lord Orochimaru? His chakra control is abysmal if he keeps pushing himself to his limits. And those chakra pills will only substitute real rest for so long. He'll go into Stage 2 Chakra Exhaustion before long and then we'll have no choice but to stop and wait for him to recover.'_ Kabuto thought grimly.

"Where is this secret tunnel?" Sasuke demanded. "They will be coming more aggressively after us now."

"Calm down. Its right past this ridge. A narrow underground river entrance that runs directly underneath the walls of the Leaf village." Kabuto explained as he pointed towards the direction of the ridge. "We'll have to hold our breath at a few points, but it will take us a mile outside of the village. From there it is a 2 day journey to the border and then we are home free."

"Then let's get it over with already." Sasuke said as he headed for the cave entrance, only to stop mid-step when he sensed another team of ninjas fast approaching, only these ones felt familiar.

"Halt!" Gai shouted as he landed in front the team of Sound ninjas, followed closely behind by his three Genin students. Lee and Tenten narrowed their eyes when they spotted 12-year-old Sasuke, sporting that same hateful look both knew and despised.

"Might Gai, I presume." Kabuto answered, delighted to make the acquaintance of the second most powerful Jounin in the Leaf village.

"Yes, and you must be Kabuto. Might I ask what you are doing with the young Uchiha? I hope it is returning him to the Hokage and proper authorities." Gai said sarcastically, noting the corpses laying below their feet.

"Afraid not. My master Orochimaru wishes to meet with Sasuke, who seems all too willing to accept his invitation. So we will be leaving now if it is all the same to you." Kabuto smirked as his arm lingered over his kunai pouch.

"I can't let you do that. Not after you've killed four ANBU agents and one shop owner. Surrender now or I will be forced to make you submit." Gai threatened.

"With what? Your little squad of Genin? By my intel, they've only been ninjas for six months. Unless you plan to take us all on by yourself." Kabuto sneered while Lee and Tenten leapt over him, both of them aiming for Sasuke's head.

Sasuke dodged Lee's kick, letting it hit the ground with the force of a 20-ton pillar of concrete. He then blocked Tenten's hail of shuriken with his kunai before backflipping over her kusarigama (chain-sickle) that slashed at him horizontally, tearing up the earth behind him.

' _Shit.'_ Sasuke cursed. He was way too low on chakra to deal with the likes of them. Especially with them both being masters of taijutsu and bukijutsu (weapon techniques). Neither of which required much chakra to perform. Sasuke on the other hand couldn't risk using any of his ninjutsu anymore.

"You're not getting away, Uchiha!" Lee shouted as he ran straight at Sasuke with his fist upraised. Sasuke didn't even have time to raise his arms in defense. Lee let loose his punch but fell forward instead. He looked back to see the one called Misumi had coiled his arm around Lee's leg.

"Run, Uchiha!" Misumi shouted as he began snaking his way up to Lee's torso.

Tenten meanwhile tried to throw some explosive tags tied to kunai at Sasuke, only to have them knocked out of the air by other kunai. Tenten turned around to see her attacker and got a hand clamped over her mouth as a reward. Yoroi slammed her head into the dirt while he sucked her chakra dry.

"Lee! Tenten!" Gai shouted before Kabuto attacked him with his hooked kunai. Gai grabbed the double agent's forearm just as his kunai was about to pierce Gai's forehead.

"So, I'm to understand that you consider yourself to be the great Copycat ninja's rival. Is that, right?" Kabuto taunted the Jounin as they both traded punches before leaping away from one another. "Because Lord Orochimaru once praised me as being Kakashi's equal in terms of skills. Killing you might prove his hypothesis beyond the shadow of a doubt."

Gai held up his right palm to assume his usual taijutsu stance. "Perhaps, but I can tell you without hesitation that you do not possess my rival's youthfulness. Your eyes are too clouded."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses before smirking. "Who needs youth when you can instead be immortal?" He flashed through his hand signs and his hands began to hum with chakra. _'Medical Scalpel No Jutsu.'_ He thought.

"Only to those who hate life would one seem more appealing than the other." Gai said before rushing at Kabuto.

As they were all fighting, Sasuke had made his way down the ridge and instantly spotted the narrow river as it cut across the forest floor and flowed into a natural cave. Kabuto was right, the entrance was small. No bigger than the width of a coffin. If Sasuke could just slip inside, he would be home free.

Sasuke ran half way to the cave when a kunai landed by his feet. He turned around and saw the once deceased Hyuga prodigy standing before him with his Byakugan activated.

"Sasuke Uchiha, where do you think you're going?" Neji asked as he walked slowly towards his fellow Rookie of the Year.

"Back off, Hyuga. I don't have time to play games with you." Sasuke sneered.

"I think differently." Neji said as he assumed his clan's infamous Gentle Fist style of taijutsu. "I think destiny will have you fall at my hands and then I will drag you back to the Hokage for questioning."

Sasuke snorted, not that he had much to laugh about. Had he access to his full array of chakra and jutsus, he could just swat this little bug away. No matter how fearsome he and his Byakugan claimed to be. His eye Kekki Genki were glorified x-ray telescopes. But his Gentle Fist style…

Sasuke drew his last remaining kunai and held it up like he used to with his katana. "I think you'll find that destiny has favored me, more than you, Hyuga. It did last time."

"What are you talking about?" Neji asked as the two of them began to circle one another.

"Nothing you'll live to figure out." Sasuke said as he threw a few shuriken at Neji while dropping a smoke bomb at his feet. The black cloud completely obscured Sasuke, allowing him to leapt towards the cave, only to be blocked by one pissed off Hyuga prodigy.

"Naïve!" Neji shouted as he thrusted his fingertips into Sasuke's chest. The Uchiha only had just enough space to lean back and avoid the strike. He slashed out with his kunai, but Neji recoiled his arm just in time. Sasuke started leaping backwards with Neji in hot pursuit. The two exchanged jabs, but close quarters combat favored the Hyuga. For every cut and bruise that Sasuke managed to inflict, all Neji had to do was land one strike to Sasuke's chakra node and the Hyuga could shut down the chakra flow through that node. Sasuke grit his teeth as the truth began to dawn on him. He could not win this fight.

Kabuto meanwhile wasn't having any more luck with his opponent.

No matter a ninja's individual skills, you couldn't beat good old fashioned speed and strength, as Kabuto was reminded of after Gai kicked him through a tree. The medic ninja rolled end over end before finally skidding to a halt across the dirt.

' _I can't afford to drag out this fight.'_ Kabuto thought as he popped one of his own chakra pills into his mouth. His chakra had so far been used primarily to repair any damage that Gai had inflicted on him, but this was a losing battle. Kabuto sighed as he felt his strength returning to him, just in time for Gai to come sprinting straight at him. _'He thinks I'm worn out. Now's my chance.'_

At the very last second, Kabuto leapt to the ground and stuck out his chakra enhanced hands. His palms his flesh and he knew he had won. Kabuto ducked underneath Gai's attack and his chakra scalpels cut into the taijutsu master's thighs. Gai tumbled over Kabuto and faceplanted into the ground behind him. He then tried to right himself, but found that his legs weren't responding to his commands.

"Checkmate." Kabuto smirked as he adjusted his broken glasses.

"What did you do to me?" Gai grunted as he grasped his legs.

"I severed your nerves from your upper thighs on down. Temporarily, unfortunately. I don't have time to do anything permanent. Especially with more ANBU teams no doubt on their way." Kabuto said as he turned to leave. "Give my regards to Kakashi Hatake, who I'm sure would have been an actual challenge."

Kabuto turned his back to his fellow ninja just in time to see the shadow forming behind his head.

"SOY-YOU!" Gai shouted as he used his arms to fling himself at Kabuto. The Sound Jounin sidestepped Gai whose fist created a crater in the ground. He spun around and flung himself at Kabuto again, his fists flying. Even with both of his legs incapacitated, Gai was still a formidable opponent.

Kabuto ducked underneath Gai and rolled behind him. _'He's like a wild animal. Truly a Blue Beast.'_ Kabuto thought as he threw his gas bombs at Gai's chest as he flew at Kabuto. Gai sailed past the gas cloud and slammed his fist right into Kabuto's chest, sending him flying back a hundred yards into another tree. "GAAAH!" Kabuto cried as the wind was knocked out of him.

Gai fell to his chest and dragged himself after Kabuto, only to become overcome with coughing. His throat felt like it was inflating like a balloon. He collapsed in front of Kabuto who forced himself to stand up on two shaky legs.

' _Definitely Kakashi's rival.'_ Kabuto thought as he stumbled his way towards the secret tunnel.

Tenten meanwhile found herself in quite the pickle. Yoroi had managed to grab her in a head lock with his hands continuously sucking Tenten's chakra. She had seconds before she would faint.

"That's right, you little bitch. Give me every last drop of your chakra." Yoroi sneered into her ear, making Tenten's skin crawl. She had tried every method to throwing the man off of her. Headbutting, toe stomping, biting hands; none of the non-lethal methods were working.

So, she chose her least favorite method.

Tenten relinquished her grip on Yoroi's forearm and reached down to activate the kunai storage seals she kept on her wrists. Only her younger self hadn't learned about seals yet and didn't have any. Cursing, Tenten reached for kunai pouch strapped to her leg and pulled out a kunoichi's best friend. The classic, trusty, standard issue kunai. Which she then stabbed directly into the spot right beside her head.

"AAAAHHH!" Yoroi cried as he immediately loosened his grip on Tenten. The Kunoichi fell forward and saw that she had hit her mark as Yoroi grasped at the kunai lodged directly into his eye.

"YOU BITCH!" Yoroi cried as the pain was beyond anything he had ever experienced before. The knife was in his brain, he knew it! He could feel it! He was going to die!

Tenten ran up to him, knowing that she had moments of chakra left and decapitated the Sound spy with her chain-sickle. Yoroi's head rolled and Tenten collapsed to her knees. He had taken too much of her chakra. She couldn't go on.

' _Lee, it's all up to you now.'_ Tenten thought as she drifted off to sleep.

Lee meanwhile was busy turning Misumi's face into mush. The Sound spy might have been able to dislocate his joints to sneak through tight spaces and bind his enemies like a cobra, but that really was that only string to his bow. Once Lee had managed to get one of his arm's free it was a simple matter to punch Misumi in the face until he fell unconscious.

"Damn. Your persistent." Lee praised as he untangled himself from his opponent's limbs. He stood up and took in his bearings. He knew that Sasuke was ahead of him trying to escape, but behind him were Gai-sensei and his metal flower Tenten-chan. The student and boyfriend in him wanted to check up on them first, but he knew that neither of them would want him to waste time he could be spending finishing off Sasuke once and for all. They would want him to trust them to deal with their own opponents. With that mini debate over, Lee sped off down the ridge towards the river.

His heart raced when he saw a lone figure in white laying prone on the ground, motionless.

' _No please. Not again.'_ Lee pleaded to himself as he ran faster than before to kneel before Neji's body to inspect him. He jabbed two fingers into his teammate's neck and felt a thousand pounds lighter when he felt a faint but steady pulse.

Lee looked up from his friend's long luxurious black mane to take in his surroundings. He couldn't sense Sasuke or anyone else around. The only thing out of place was the moss that was brushed aside at the entrance to an underground river.

The Green Beast of Leaf dashed over to the entrance but lingered once more, doubting if he should give up his search and attend to his teammates or risk taking on Sasuke and whomever else.

His memories then drifted back to that night he and Tenten had to hoist fleeing children and elderly citizens from a nearby village into moving carts to flee their burning village in the dead of night. He could still hear their crying.

Lee jumped down right into the hole and let the current sweep him along. His body was knocked around as the waves picked him up and down, usually when there was no space between the water's surface and the ceiling. Soon, Lee's less than fun waterslide came to a halt when his feet his rocks and enough light peaked out from the forest floor for Lee to see where he was. The underground stream had reached a junction. One pathway to the left, and one pathway to the right.

' _Times and places that I wish I could use ninjutsu.'_ Lee thought to himself before he chose the right path.

Another minute of sliding led him out to a great river along the nearby mountains outside of the Leaf. Lee ran along the surface of the mightier river and reached the shore just before he ran over the edge of the waterfall. From there he took in the breathtaking view of the valley below. Forest as far as the eye could see of every tree imaginable. But no sign of Sasuke anywhere.

Lee punched the nearest rock, splitting it in half. His anger numbed the pain better than any drug ever could. He had failed. Sasuke had escaped.

And the ninja world would bleed for it.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Dun, dun, DUUUUUUN!**

 **How'd I do? What worked, what didn't, what can I improve upon?**

 **Let me know in the review below.**


	4. Chapter 4: Telling Secrets

**Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and all the chapters previous, but only Spaceorbis wins money for guessing this chapter's plot.**

 **Spaceorbis, you accept Monopoly money, right?**

 **To everyone else who didn't win, I hope you can enjoy this new chapter as a consolation prize.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Telling Secrets

Hours later, Naruto and the rest of his gang found themselves sharing the hastily cleared out large sick room in the children's ward. It being the only room in the hospital capable of accommodating eleven sickbeds. Naruto remembered this room very well. He visiting this room once a month after the 4th Shinobi War ended. The Leaf village had been rebuilt along with the general hospital from Pain's attack and children hadn't stopped getting cancer in that time.

Naruto, being one of two undisputed heroes of the Ninja World, thought he would brighten the days of those sad little kids; more than the colorful cartoon toads, slugs, and snakes that were painted on the walls ever could. More often than naught, he was right. Those bright smiles he got as a reward made all the years of hardship seem worth it. Naruto had always been known for his bright smile his fangirls would equate to sunshine, but to him, he had nothing on the kids who had no choice but to celebrate Christmas in July.

Now ten years into the past, that same room had all its regular patients moved out in order to treat and contain the 8 troublemakers who had started this whole mess. Naruto and the 7 other time travelers among the Rookie 9 had been laying in their beds with liquid chakra restoring IV drips on one side and ANBU guards on the other. Until Rock Lee showed up, carrying his entire team on his shoulders and a look of defeat on his face. Then the party really got started.

While Lee and his two unconscious teammates remained here to be strapped down to their beds, Gai-sensei was taken into intensive care ward on account of some kind of poison gas swelling his throat.

Lee was awake and suffering from only minor muscle strain (plus the rope burn from when he tried to break free of his leather straps after the ANBU guards wouldn't tell him what Gai's condition was). He was given a sedative and had calmed down.

Tenten was still unconscious, suffering from Stage Two Chakra Exhaustion that the doctors couldn't make heads or tails of. Lee had mentioned that she was attacked by a masked man in purple that was teammates with Kabuto. Eventually the group crowd sourced that her chakra had been syphoned and the doctors gave her the heavy duty chakra replenishing medicine. Even still, the Konoha 11's expert medic and the hospital doctors all agreed that Tenten probably wouldn't wake up anytime soon.

Neji was the oddball case. He didn't have chakra exhaustion at all, which was appropriate since he was the only member of the original gang that didn't go back in time on account of him being dead. Naruto of course had to do a double take when he saw the Hyuga prodigy again. The last time he saw Neji alive, he was taking two tree branch sized spikes to the torso to save Naruto and Neji's cousin Hinata's life. That had nearly been the straw that broke the camel's back for the Uzumaki, if it wasn't for the harsh words from the girl he had unknowingly inspired all her life. They both had grieved for Neji together, as had all of the Konoha 11, and now there he lay. Sleeping in his hospital bed looking slightly younger than Naruto had ever known him in life.

The blond felt his blood boil when he heard what had happened. Team Gai had somehow managed to catch up to Sasuke and Kabuto's fake Genin Team, and Neji of all people had ended up fighting Sasuke. From what they could tell, Neji had put up a valiant fight, but Sasuke, that snake, got him in a Genjutsu. Not the Tsukuyomi: the Nightmare Realm, thank god, but count on the Uchiha that it was nothing pleasant.

Naruto adjusted his body in bed to get comfortable. He looked up at the ceiling with the painted rainbows, smiling sun, and the flock of birds. This was not how this mission was supposed to go. It was supposed to be a solo mission. Just him sent back to fix the mistakes made in the past. Save a few more lives worth saving, stop Sasuke from turning evil entirely, and prevent the annihilation of the entire Ninja World while he was at it. Hell, best case scenario he was supposed to be sent back with his adult body while his past-self existed alongside him. Letting him save the ninja world from the shadows like a true shinobi would.

He didn't need Shikamaru to explain it to him that this plan was well and truly scrapped. Sasuke was free and as committed to his ideology as ever. And Naruto practically blew his cover in one last desperate attempt to reconcile his oldest friend. Of course, Sasuke was the one who attacked first, but still…

' _ **You're overthinking it, Kit.'**_ Kurama interjected.

' _Am I?'_

' _ **Yes. No plans survive the full mission. That was the first thing Kakashi taught you once you became a Jounin. How you adjust and adapt is what determines if you are a capable soldier and team leader.'**_

' _So did I make the right call in trying to talk Sasuke into switching sides?'_ Naruto asked bitterly.

' _ **No idea, those questions are for your human after action committees your stupid village council loves so much.'**_ Kurama sighed.

' _But Lee said that at least five people have died when I let Sasuke get away.'_

' _ **Didn't the Uchiha's older brother lecture you about this years ago? You don't do things on your own and you didn't let him get away by yourself. You did what you thought was right and your team isn't dead. So quit bitching and start acting like the future Hokage all of your friends believe you will be.'**_

' _I'm just so fucking tired of it!'_ Naruto exclaimed. _'I'm tired of losing! I'm tired of taking one step forward and two steps back! I keep trying to outflank Sasuke and he outflanks me right back! I try to play by the rules, fight with honor, and he just skirts around it! What the Hell am I supposed to do when I'm tired of fighting?!'_

' _ **You fight a little more…'**_ Kurama thought. _**'You keep on fighting because you know deep down there is a bright light that Sasuke, or Madara, or Kaguya, or anyone else with a stick up their ass can never hope to extinguish. Its small and it flickers but it is always worth fighting for. So, whenever you're ready to stop pouting, the world needs saving again.'**_

Naruto lay there in bed, his friends and the ANBU guards being completely unaware of the conversation going on in his head. He covered his face to hide his tears.

' _I gotta keep fighting… This time for good.'_ Naruto thought to himself, having had his solitary moment of doubt. He then propped himself up on his elbows and saw that Shikamaru was awake too. He gave Naruto a look they were both familiar with from their times spent undercover in ANBU together.

' _Distraction.'_ Shikamaru thought and Naruto gave the barest hint of a nod.

As soon as Naruto's ANBU guard looked the other way, the infamous prankster pulled out a jawbreaker sized marble and let it land on the floor.

"BOMB!" Naruto's handler cried as the black marble hissed and exploded, filling the room with noxious brown gas.

"Stink bomb!" Another ANBU agent corrected as he dashed out of the room, covering his mouth. His fellow guards followed closely behind him, pushing past a startled nurse who cringed when she got a whiff of the gas. She closed the door behind her to try and spare the rest of the hospital its vile fumes.

Naruto hopped out of bed and barred the door with a chair.

"Oh God damn it, Naruto!" Kiba cried as he clutched his nose. He and all their other friends were quickly waking up to the ungodly stink.

"Wah…what? AH OH GOD!" Tenten cried as she was violently awoken from her chakra coma.

"For God's sake, open a window!" Sakura cried.

"No! Keep it closed!" Shikamaru ordered while pinching his nose.

"Hold on, hold on." Naruto said as he flashed through a quick series of hand signs and slammed his palm onto the hospital tiles. "Air Filter Seal!" Naruto cried. He pulled back his arm and immediately all of the sulfur gas was being sucked into the seal on the floor and filtered out clean and pure air.

"Glad to see this seal works on more than just poisonous gases." Naruto said before coughing. He could still smell the stenches seeped into his clothes.

"Do I even want to know where you were hiding that stink bomb?" Sakura asked.

"What can I say? I'm a man of many talents." Naruto smirked. While on the inside he was kicking himself for slacking off on mastering the Pine Scented Seal.

"Right, so what's the plan?" Choji asked. "I figured we were going to play dumb and get sent back to our parents?"

"Not anymore." Shikamaru spoke up. "I've been giving this a lot of thought and the best course of action for us to take is to tell the Hokage we are from the future…" He said dramatically.

"You care to elaborate on why?" Ino asked.

"Not until we get an audience with the Hokage. The only problem is, how do we convince him that we are from the future?" Shikamaru inquired.

"Tell him about the Sound/Sand invasion during the Chunin Exams?" Kiba suggested.

"The Chunin Exams where that happens are a year away. By then, Sasuke will have gotten far too strong." Sakura countered.

"What we need is a bit of information that we as children could never possibly know." Shikamaru said. "Naruto, you're the Hokage-in-training. Got any Triple S Class secrets you could share with the Third?"

"Besides the one about you being the son of the 4th Hokage." Shino pointed out. "That is less of a great secret than it is an unacknowledged fact the collective ten of us could have deduced together."

Naruto thought about it for a second before a light bulb appeared over his golden locks. "Triple S class? Yeah, I've got one or two."

The room door then burst open when two ANBU agents rammed their shoulders into it.

"Alright you brats, really freaking clever!" Walrus exclaimed.

"We want an audience with the Lord Hokage." Naruto said, using his diplomatic tone he had mastered after years of desperate pleading for aid from countries across the seas.

"Yeah right, all you kids are gonna get is an earful from your parents once we finish cleaning up your classroom." Walrus stated.

"Tell him it pertains to the real reason behind the Uchiha Massacre. Or should it be called…the Failed Uchiha Coup?" Naruto asked, startling everyone in the room.

' _Uchiha Coup?'_ Sakura thought in place of everyone. _'What the Hell did Sasuke's clan do now?'_

Walrus just looked nervously over at his fellow ANBU agents. None of them knew what the orange clad boy was going on about either. But to bring up the Uchiha Massacre…

"Wait here." Walrus ordered as he left the room to go fetch the Hokage. All eyes fell on Naruto and the truth behind this Uchiha Triple S Class secret.

Several minutes passed without anyone saying a word. They couldn't risk further discussions with the ANBU agents present. A dozen faceless masks with unproven loyalties. Not the sort of thing you wanted to let overhear about your knowledge of the future.

Finally the door swung open and the children were greeted by the man many saw as the grandfather of all young Leaf ninjas. The Third Hokage, Hiruzen, dressed in his red and white Hokage robes and dawning the famous Hokage hat. Naruto had to fight back his tears. _'It's really him.'_

"Hello, children. You wished to speak with me?" Hiruzen asked innocently, as if he were just visiting them in their class while school was in session.

"Yes, we have something very important to tell you, Lord Hokage." Shikamaru spoke. "Something we really need to discuss as privately as possible."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, given the circumstances." Hiruzen said with genuine sympathy in his voice. "The twin councils are in an uproar. You all are in a lot of trouble. So anything you wish to say to me you can say in front of my ANBU guards."

"It has to do with Sasuke and why he needs to be hunted down as a traitor immediately." Naruto stated.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at Naruto. That was an extremely serious accusation to make. Even against a classmate who attacked you. "If you wish to tell your side of the story, I will listen. But the ANBU tracking teams have orders to bring Sasuke in alive in order to hear his side of the story as well."

"Bring him in alive? He killed a team of ANBU agents!" Lee snapped.

"So you say, Rock Lee, but you admit to the ANBU agents that you did not see Sasuke commit the murder, and he was with three other older boys."

"Kabuto, I don't know his teammate's names, they are traitors too." Lee said.

"Our files list them as Genin. They have just failed their 5th attempt at the Chunin Exams. They hardly seem like they are capable of being traitors." Hiruzen argued.

"You're kidding me." Tenten growled.

"All we know for certain is that Sasuke and Kabuto are missing." Hiruzen said. "You, Tenten, killed one of the alleged traitors and Lee beat the other into a coma. He hasn't awoken yet and neither has Gai. All we have is your word that they were traitors."

"You don't think we killed those ANBU agents, do you?" Lee asked, a little worried.

"I do not, but this investigation is still ongoing." Hiruzen reassured.

"But you don't trust our word because we are Genin and Academy students." Tenten stated, hitting the nail on the head.

"As I've said, this investigation is still ongoing."

"We are getting off topic." Shikamaru spoke up. "We have all the answers you seek, you just need to trust us enough to speak alone."

"And yet you do not wish for me to trust my own ANBU?" Hiruzen countered. "Shikamaru, what exactly is going on?"

"We know the truth about the Uchiha Massacre." Naruto stated, making Hiruzen snap his head towards the blond.

"What does the death of Sasuke's clan have to do with today?" Hiruzen asked.

"It proves that Itachi wasn't thorough enough when you ordered him to do it." Naruto said, making everyone's blood run cold.

' _The Third Hokage ordered the Massacre?'_ Sakura thought in horror.

"What was that?" Walrus roared.

"Leave us. All of you." Hiruzen stated with absolute authority.

"But sir…" Walrus spoke up before Hiruzen raised his arm and cut him off.

"All of you, out. Now." Hiruzen repeated, his tone letting the ANBU know they did not want him to repeat himself a third time.

"Yes, sir." Walrus said quickly. The ANBU all bowed and then headed out the door, leaving Hiruzen alone with all the time travelers, plus one unconscious Neji.

Hiruzen took out his pipe and motioned to light it before he remembered he was in a hospital and resigned himself to chewing on the tip.

"Go on…" Hiruzen stated.

"Back when Sasuke was 7, his clan was planning a Coup against the Leaf. After negotiations broke down, you and your advisors ordered Itachi to assassinate his entire family. Only Itachi spared his younger brother, who he loved more than anyone, so that Sasuke could kill him later and avenge the clan." Naruto summarized, keeping all of the jaws of his friends firmly on the floor. "Itachi was then sent on a deep cover mission to join the inner circle of the Akatsuki and relay intelligence back to the Leaf through Pervy Sage-sorry, Jiraiya."

"Son of a bitch, you're kidding me." Kiba whispered.

"That's horrible…" Hinata whispered.

"The Third Hokage did that? He couldn't have…" Ino whispered to herself.

Hiruzen bit down hard on the tip of his pipe. Judging from their reactions, only Naruto knew the secret, but that should be impossible. No one besides the Hokage, his three advisors, Jiraiya, and Itachi himself knew the truth of that black stain on the Leaf's history.

"How did you learn about this? There are no records kept of Itachi's mission details. Either of him being ordered to commit genocide or of him being a double agent." Hiruzen asked very seriously.

"Another Uchiha told me and Itachi confirmed it to me himself." Naruto said. "At least they will…five years from now. After the Sand and Sound villages attempt a sneak attack against the Leaf, under Orochimaru's direction. And Sasuke flees the village to seek Orochimaru out for power. And then I leave the Leaf to train with Jiraiya for 3 years. And the Akatsuki start hunting down myself and the 8 other Jinchuriki. Which leads to the future Kazekage being kidnapped, and the Leaf to be destroyed. And that leads to the 4th Shinobi World War where the Five Great Ninja Nations band together to fight against the Akatsuki. Which eventually leads to the 5th Shinobi World War lead by Sasuke and the minor Ninja Nations against the Shinobi Alliance which the Alliance loses and all the Great Ninja Villages are burned to the ground, including the Leaf."

Hiruzen blinked twice after Naruto's rant. No one could get a read on the old man. He looked shocked, like he wanted to call out Naruto for lying but the lie was too elaborate to just dismiss.

"Naruto, take a walk with me." Hiruzen ordered, motioning towards the door.

Naruto did a quick look back at Shikamaru, who nodded, before leaping out of bed to take the past Hokage up on his offer.

The two of them headed out into the hallway and rounded a few corners in complete silence before Hiruzen finally decided that enough was enough.

"Okay, Naruto. Out with it." Hiruzen said as they both walked down a deserted hallway.

"What are you talking about, sir?" Naruto asked.

"You know darn well what. Drop this ruse right now. It's not funny, you and your friends are in a lot of trouble. You've destroyed your classroom, fought with your fellow classmate, an entire ANBU division has been scrambled, as has a division of regular Jounin and Chunin forces. A civilian has been killed, a team of ANBU agents have been killed; and you try to brush all this off by claiming what exactly?" Hiruzen ranted.

"That I am from the future. We all are." Naruto said. "Me, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, Kiba, Shino, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Bushy-brows, Tenten, and…AH SHIT!" Naruto cried as he stopped in his tracks when it hit him. "Where's Sai?"

"Who is Sai?" Hiruzen asked.

"Mine and Sakura-chan's teammate. At least he will be. He would be an agent of Root by now. Damn it."

"Root? How do you know about Root?" Hiruzen asked.

"I told you. I'm from the future. At least my mind is. I'm pretty sure this is my old, younger body…" Naruto said as he tugged at his collar to inspect his torso. His chest muscles were smaller, and devoid of the scar over his right lung where Sasuke had once pierced him with his Chidori.

"You really expect me to believe that any of you are from the future?" Hiruzen asked.

"I know it's hard to comprehend. I actually went back in time and I can hardly believe it half the time." Naruto admitted.

"How did you even travel back in time? Scholars have been trying to create a jutsu that would allow time travel since the early days of the Sage of Six Paths."

"That's just it. A few months ago, back in my timeline, some architects discovered the Tomb of the Sage of Six Paths. The walls were covered in ancient writings, listing jutsus that were once thought impossible. One of those jutsus was the Taimu Toraberu no Jutsu. Which translates to Time Travel Jutsu." Naruto explained. "We spent the next several months translating the writing on the wall and concluded that it would work. Although we all thought that it would only send me back in time."

Hiruzen looked at Naruto, trying to gauge his reactions. "Could you replicate this jutsu? Or lead us to the Tomb of the Sage?"

"We spent months just trying to copy down the intricate seal work required to perform the jutsu. I was actually the best fuinjutsu master we had in the Leaf back in my timeline, but there is no way I could recreate it from memory." Naruto admitted. "As for the Tomb, I don't know where it was exactly. I think it was located in a mountain somewhere in the Land of Fire, but I was busy fighting on the front lines while they made the discovery. I was called back to help do the seal work."

"So then you have no proof of your claim?" Hiruzen asked.

"How else do you explain how I know about Itachi?" Naruto pointed out.

"I don't know." Hiruzen admitted as he leaned against the window sill. "There are so many other possibilities other than time travel. None of them are pleasant."

"Well how do I prove it to you?" Naruto insisted. "I want you to believe me, Lord Hokage. But if I can't, me and my friends will find another way. I will protect the Leaf village and save the world myself if I need to."

Hiruzen turned back towards Naruto and, for a split second, he imagined that he would find a man standing beside him, tall and proud like his father, wearing a Jounin vest, a great shinobi of the Leaf like the Third Hokage always hoped he would be in. Instead, he saw a boy dressed in a hospital gown.

The Third Hokage chuckled. "Let's say that I do believe you, what would you ask of me?"

"I'm honestly not certain. Shikamaru is the one with the plans. I plan on making him my advisor when I become Hokage." Naruto smiled.

"Selecting someone smarter than you to advise you? Very wise, Naruto." Hiruzen said. "Perhaps there is more truth to your words than the lack of evidence would suggest. The Naruto I scolded last week would say that he would do the Hokage job all by himself."

"Well I was next in line to be Hokage before I went back in time." Naruto chuckled.

"Which was when exactly?" Hiruzen asked.

"I think I was supposed to jump back in time ten years."

"You think?" Hiruzen questioned.

"The whole seal was written in dead languages that only the Sage knew. We had to consult the Elder Toad and Pervy Sage can tell you how frustrating it is to keep up a conversation with him after he forgets your name mid-sentence." Naruto deadpanned.

Hiruzen burst out laughing. "Pervy Sage, what a perfect nickname for Jiraiya."

"Yeah, he was my mentor before he died." Naruto said sadly.

"And when did he die?" Hiruzen asked.

"Four…five years ago? Or is it from now? It's hard to keep track. I did find out later that he was my godfather." Naruto said.

Hiruzen's mood turned somber. "I see. And if you know about your godfather, you must know about your parents…"

"I do." Naruto nodded. "Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. I actually got to meet them through my father's Four Point Seal he placed on me. He put his and my mother's chakra inside me so that I could talk to them one day."

"I see…" Hiruzen sighed. "Naruto, you must understand…I kept your lineage a secret to protect you. Your father made many enemies in his life, as did your mother. If word had gotten out that they both had a son together, you would be in constant danger every time you stepped outside the Leaf village."

"As opposed to being harassed while inside the Leaf?" Naruto countered.

"I deserve that. Rumors have always circled around you that gave everyone the wrong impression and I could not suppress them without standing atop other people's rights."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Naruto spat. "You could have done so much more."

"And the more I attempted to protect you the more outsiders would question your importance." Hiruzen stated. "And your lineage. I had every intention of revealing your parentage once you had turned 18 or achieved the rank of Jounin."

"Well that day has come." Naruto stated. "Half a day ago, I was 22 and the Head Jounin in the Leaf village. I can defend myself and I don't give a damn who knows my lineage. I didn't come here to rub my parents in everyone's faces. I came here to stop Sasuke from becoming evil."

"And that's another thing? Just what in the world leads young Sasuke to the dark path?" Hiruzen asked. "I knew his path of vengeance would always take him down the wrong path, but I had hoped that his Will of Fire would show him the way back."

Naruto leaned against the window of the hospital, looking out at the village as the sun began to set. Giving the rooftops a kind of magical glow that always made the fighting worth it.

"I don't know. It was the damnedest thing. He did see the light. I helped bring him back to the right side. He helped us win the 4th Shinobi World War and saved the world. Then he went off on a journey of redemption for himself." Naruto said as he remembered handing Sasuke back his headband he had been keeping for 4 long years. He could see it in his best friend's eyes. His vision was clear. He was happy and relieved of all his demons. He was good. "Then a year later, to the day, the roads leading into all of the minor nations bordering the Great Ninja Nations were closed to the Shinobi Alliance. And Sasuke lead a sneak attack on all six of the Allied Nations."

"Six?" Hiruzen asked.

"The Samurai from the Land of Iron were included in the Shinobi Alliance. After they helped us win the 4th War. Their tiny nation was the last to fall before the Land of Fire." Naruto said bitterly.

"Things must have been truly grim if the Samurai ever allied with the Shinobi not once, but twice." Hiruzen said.

"Worse than you'll ever know."

Hiruzen looked out at the four Hokage faces cared into the mountain side. His face stood second from the furthest on the right while beside him was the 4th Hokage, Naruto's father, and Hiruzen's two mentors and masters. The 1st and 2nd Hokage. All of them judging him on his next move.

"I'll trust you, but you need to trust me with more information." Hiruzen decided.

"Then we need to talk to Shikamaru. If I know him, he'll want to have a say in what I tell you." Naruto said.

"You really value his council, don't you?" Hiruzen asked.

"I do." Naruto said. "He and all the other guys are like brothers to me."

"And the girls? Are they all like sisters to you?" Hiruzen asked, making the young Jounin blush.

"Some of them…" Naruto admitted.

Hiruzen smiled. "Then let us not keep them waiting any longer." He said as he motioned to walk back to their hospital room.

"Old man, wait." Naruto said quickly.

"What is it?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto's fist tightened, the Third Hokage could tell what he was about to hear weighed heavily on the young man's shoulders.

"In one year, during the 3rd phase of the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru will kill you. I don't care if it fucks up the timeline by telling you. I don't want you to die." Naruto stated.

Hiruzen just looked at Naruto, imagining a Jounin under his command, reporting to Hiruzen a grave bit of news.

"Thank you for telling me Naruto. I swear, I shall make the appropriate steps to avert this." Hiruzen said.

"Promise?" Naruto asked, reminding Hiruzen of the child he had scolded for his pranks last week.

"I promise." Hiruzen said, visibly lightening the burden on Naruto's shoulders. He turned to walk away but was stopped when he felt tiny arms wrap around his torso in a bone crushing hug.

"I really missed you, Old Man." Naruto cried, making Hiruzen chuckle as he returned the hug.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto. I look forward to meeting the man you have become." Hiruzen smiled. For the brief moment, they weren't Academy student and Hokage, they were grandson and grandfather, hugging for the first time ever.

* * *

Back in the hospital room, Sakura was getting impatient. Naruto and the Third Hokage had been gone too long for her tastes. Something everyone cued in on by the constant tapping of her foot.

"I'm going to look for them." Sakura declared as she made her way for the door.

"Sakura, don't." Shikamaru said. "Naruto can handle this."

"I know he can. But this is taking too long. What if the wrong person overheard him and the Third Hokage? What if Danzo overheard him and dragged Naruto off for questioning?" Sakura argued.

"I think we would hear about that." Choji pointed out. "Naruto is not one to go quietly."

"Still, I'm worried." Sakura admitted.

"Seriously, Sakura. You sound like my sister." Kiba said. "Are you his keeper or something?"

"I can't be worried about my teammate?" Sakura snapped.

"Depends, are you as worried for Naruto as you are for Sai?" Shino asked, with a knowing smirk.

"Sai!" Ino cried. "Oh shit! I completely forgot about him! Where is he?!"

"He'd be with the Root." Shikamaru said bluntly.

"Well we have to save him!" Ino exclaimed.

"We will, in time." Shikamaru insisted. "Right now, we need to focus on ourselves. Once Naruto comes back with the Third Hokage we can start planning our strategy. Including how to rescue Sai."

Ino held her pillow tightly, hating that they weren't all freaking out as much as her. Of course, Sai was her boyfriend of 2 years, before they broke up. Ino had thought that Sai was being genuine when he called her beautiful that one time. And the ever emotionally overflowing Ino had somehow taken a liking to the emotionally devoid Sai. Still, such a relationship couldn't last, not with a war on. Ino began the relationship and Ino was the one to end it. Miraculously, without any hard feelings between them. Now Sai was like Shikamaru and Choji. Brothers to Ino, with room in her heart to be something more.

That's when the door swung open and Sakura snapped her head to see Naruto, instead she saw that one ANBU with that stupid walrus mask.

"The Lord Hokage has requested any of you who can stand join him in his office where it is secure." Walrus stated.

"That's all of us." Shikamaru said as he threw back his covers and stood up, followed by each of the time travelers. Only Neji remained behind. Still unconscious from his fight against Sasuke. Tenten's eyes lingered on him.

"Come on, my metal flower." Lee said after catching Tenten staring at Neji longer than he did. "We will see him afterwards."

Tenten finally broke away from Neji. "Right…"

The Konoha 10 leapt out of the beds, took turns in the bathroom to change, and were escorted to the Hokage's office.

One by one they entered the oval office, with the windows looking out the entire Leaf village, and a single desk facing away from the windows. Where the Third Hokage sat and Naruto stood by his side.

They all lined up like Veteran Jounin in front of their Hokage, their heels clicked together and their arms held at their sides.

"Leave us." Hiruzen ordered his ANBU agents, who nodded and exited the office. The door clicked shut and Hiruzen held up his index and middle finger to make half of the seal of the Tiger.

' _Silencing Seal.'_ Hiruzen thought. The room glowed with runes before fading away. Not a sound could escape these walls now. The windows were tinted with runes that prevented even the Byakugan from seeing through the walls.

No one, who wasn't inside the Hokage Office, could hear what would be said.

"So, I take it Naruto managed to convince you?" Shikamaru said, even as he knew the answer.

"He did." Hiruzen replied. "He always wanted to wait until you arrived to explain to me anything more about the future."

"That's exactly it. Count on you, Naruto, to make a smart decision when it counts." Shikamaru praised.

"Um…thanks?" Naruto asked, feeling like he had still been insulted.

"So what has he told you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Besides that my student Orochimaru will kill me in one year during the sneak attack from Sand and Sound? Not much. I understand that Sasuke is a threat that must be stopped at any cost though."

The young ninjas all looked at one another.

"Yes. Just so you know we will do everything in our power to prevent your death. That was always Naruto's first task when he was the one to return to the past alone." Shikamaru said.

"Well you need to forget about the what ifs and what should have been for now. And focus on what you need to do. You have my support, so let's get to work." Hiruzen stated, spreading relief all along the time travelers.

"In that case, we ask that you let us restrict what knowledge of the future we pass on to you." Shikamaru stated.

"And why would I agree to such a thing?" Hiruzen asked.

"Because if word gets out that we are from the future, than everyone with ambition is going to want in on what we know. At best, that would make our information worthless since everyone will be changing their actions. At worst, our enemies will use our knowledge to their own advantage."

"Like Danzo." Naruto spoke up.

Hiruzen stared at the young shinobi. "How much do you know about Danzo?"

"More than I want to know, but less than we need to know." Naruto stated. "We do know that Sasuke will kill him a month before the 4th Shinobi War ends. September 1016 A.S."

"I see. Four and a half years from now." Hiruzen said sadly. "In that case, I recommend that you keep Danzo alive until then."

"Why would we do that?" Sakura asked, knowing exactly how much of a pain in the ass Danzo was to her master Lady Tsunade.

"Not because he is my friend. For whatever evil you may perceive he has done, in his heart I know that he was always thinking of the Leaf." Hiruzen defended.

' _Just like me and Sasuke.'_ Naruto thought.

"Yeah, thinking of how to rule the Leaf." Kiba bluntly muttered.

"He has a point. What if Root managed to divert a catastrophe from the Leaf without the Hokage or the regular ANBU ever knowing about it?" Shino pointed out.

"Fine, but what about Sai?" Ino spoke up. "He was still an agent of Root around this time. He's probably trapped in some windowless underground bunker, scared and alone!"

"Give him some credit, Ino." Choji spoke up. "Sai's probably not scared."

His point was met with a stink eye from Ino.

"He's right. Sai is smart. He's probably keeping his emotions in check and playing the role of a good Root agent." Naruto said. "If anyone could maintain his cover being back in time its him."

"That's all well and good for now, but shouldn't we make steps to freeing him? We can't wait until he's accomplished all the possible good he could accomplish in 4 years. Sai joined you and Sakura on Team 7 after 3 years. Should we even wait that long?" Hinata pointed out.

"No idea." Naruto said deep in thought. "I never heard Sai talk about any of the missions he went on back when he worked for Danzo. I figured they weren't the kind of missions you'd ever want to talk about."

"Neither did I. But since we are back to being 12 years old, Sai should have his tongue seal again, preventing him from revealing any of Danzo's secrets." Sakura pointed out.

"He told me about some of his missions." Ino said sadly. "He was forced to do awful things. Killing innocent people. People that helped the Root on their missions but Danzo didn't want any loose ends. Or any family members to go looking for those loose ends." She spat.

"So we need to free Sai as soon as possible without tipping Danzo off that we or Sai are from the future." Shikamaru summarized.

"I think it's safe to assume that he already knows about us." Shino spoke up. "Our arrival was very public and very noticeable. Not to mention all of the ANBU agents that got involved. It would be dumb luck if Danzo didn't put 2 and 2 together."

"All anyone outside of this room knows is that there was a fight at the Academy by the 8 of us against Sasuke. And that Naruto used an extremely advanced barrier jutsu for his age." Shikamaru clarified. "That will get Danzo's attention, but it hardly suggests that he is a time traveler."

"Yes, but Sasuke is heading for Orochimaru's right now. And Orochimaru and Danzo were partners in their day. They shared intel and provided resources for each other." Naruto said.

"Well it doesn't matter right now. We can't do anything in our current state." Lee pointed out. Everyone muttered in agreement.

"My thoughts exactly. As many things as we want to accomplish, we won't be any use to anyone until we train to get our bodies back up to our old levels." Shikamaru stated.

"So we're just going to go back to the Academy and train up like we used to?" Kiba mocked.

"Of course, not. We're dropping out of school and we're going to get to our high intensity training right off the bat." Shikamaru stated. "No need to relearn any jutsus, we just need to increase our chakra capacity and our physical abilities."

"Drop out of school? What are our parents going to say?" Ino asked.

"That's where the 3rd Hokage comes in." Shikamaru said slyly as he turned towards the grandfather of the Leaf village.

"What do you have in mind?" Hiruzen asked with his hands held together, laying on his desk.

"I want you to create a secret squad. An ANBU training program for exceptional individuals. Have all our parents think we have been chosen for the fast track to the rank of ANBU. The elite of the elite." Shikamaru smirked at his genius plan. All the rest of the Konoha 11 looked at him in awe of this plan.

Hiruzen paused to mull this over. "You want to start your own special squad of 3-4 teams to allow yourselves to complete your mission to save the world without being interrupted? I assume you would also like a secret clubhouse to meet up at?" Hiruzen mused.

Shikamaru and the rest just stared at the Hokage, who coughed.

"My apologies, it is still hard to remember that you are all 22."

"Apologies nothing, a secret clubhouse sounds awesome." Naruto said in awe, making his more serious teammates groan.

"Naruto…" Sakura groaned at his childishness.

"What, Sakura-chan? It's like we're time traveling secret agents and now we get a kick ass clubhouse!" Naruto exclaimed with his eyes sparkling.

"Oh yeah! And then maybe the ANBU can hook us up with x-ray glasses and decoder rings." Kiba said sarcastically.

"You think?" Naruto gasped.

"No, you dork!" Kiba exclaimed.

"I will see to finding you all a base of operation that will offer you privacy and access to everything you need to complete your mission." Hiruzen interrupted. "I assume you will want to be able to live in the base?"

"It would be the safest option." Shikamaru said.

"Oh no, I am not becoming a hermit with all of you." Ino stated firmly.

"We wouldn't be hermits, Ino." Shikamaru said. "We could leave and see our families every now and again, but we need to limit our contact with them to reduce the risk of any of us revealing our identities. Need I remind you that you living in a clan compound of mind readers?"

Ino grumbled at his unfailing logic. "Fine. Swear to God there had better be plenty of closest space."

"And private rooms." Sakura added. "I'm not bunking with six other guys while they go through puberty."

' _Oh please, you'd love that. Or more accurately, you'd love it if you only had to bunk with your remaining immediate teammate.'_ Inner smirked.

"Oh, like I want to spend the next few years sleeping next to a bunch of girls going through puberty. God forbid they each start bleeding during their own separate week and I'll never get the smell out of my nose." Kiba said before he was simultaneously hit in the head by three fists and a mace.

"So, I'll put separate rooms high on the list of priorities." Hiruzen said as he considered writing all this down.

"Since we're taking requests, I'd like a fully stocked kitchen to cook with." Choji said. "If it's gonna be our home, might as well make it feel like one."

"Oh, I second that." Naruto said, remembering all the delicious meals that Choji could make out of a campfire and a few days' rations. Give him a genuine kitchen and he would make it sing.

"We should also get a Television with cable." Shino says.

"You want to watch TV?" Hinata asked.

"I want to watch the news. We can't expect the Hokage to give us all of the ANBU intelligence reports and we can't be expected to sort through all the relative data. Having the news channel on could help keep us in the loop on what the consequences of our actions." Shino stated. Everyone nodded at his logic.

"I would also ask for our own private underground training grounds, but that might be a bit much." Shikamaru said.

"For practicing your techniques that you all shouldn't know yet." Hiruzen realized. "I'm afraid you'll have to settle for your usual training grounds for now."

"Very well." Shikamaru sighed. "We will need to bring in our Jounin-sensei into the loop. They'll be of great help in future missions and in training us."

"I'll see to gathering them. You will all have to return to your hospital beds for the night, to ensure that your chakra exhaustion is absolutely healed. Knowing Naruto, he will be pushing himself to his limits in training soon enough." Hiruzen joked.

"That's a given." Sakura stated.

"Hey, come on, we can all do stupid and reckless things too." Kiba complained.

"Screw you all." Naruto stated, making everyone including the Jinchuriki laugh.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Spaceorbis, bad news, the Monopoly money turned out to be made of air. I know that will make exchanging it for real money harder but… Ah Hell, I'm sure you don't mind. Do you?**

 **Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think via Review so that I can feel all warm and fuzzy inside.**

 **Well, see you next time.**

 **Actually, hold on... SageModeSasuke convinced me to write a quick little omake about another way Naruto convincing Hiruzen could have gone. Check it out.**

"The tree leaves fall backwards..." Naruto said as everyone looked on him with confusion. He said that he knew how to convince the Third Hokage that they were all time travelers, but what were confusing words like those supposed to do?

"Impossible." Hiruzen whispered. He had heard of that password from the scrolls meant only for the eyes of the Hokage, but he never dreamed he would hear those words spoken to him in his lifetime.

"You're from the future..." Hiruzen stated.

"Believe it." Naruto said.

* * *

 **Yeah, a password that only the Hokage would know in case any Leaf ninja ever found themselves sent back in time. But it seemed to quick and I could think of a number of ways Hiruzen could still doubt Naruto's claim of being a time traveler, so I went with the longer way. What do you think? Should I have gone with the other way or did I make the right choice?**


	5. Chapter 5: New Home

**Author's Note: Everyone get your beating sticks ready…**

* * *

Chapter 5: New Home

"OH GOD, IT HURTS!" The young Genin cried out as Sakura twisted her surgical tools deeper into his shoulder muscles, trying to find the last piece of shrapnel.

"OH MOMMA! PLEASE MOMMA, MAKE IT STOP!" The Genin cried out as Sakura ignored his pleas and continued to work without anesthetic. Meanwhile, the only two Operating Room nurses that Sakura had to work with held the poor boy down as Sakura cut into his tendons.

Sakura cursed to herself. She had brought this on herself 4 days ago when she had deemed him to be low priority. It was just an exploding kunai shrapnel. The boy would be in pain and would most likely lose his arm, but he would live if he survived the siege. Then one nurse came rushing inside the OR to report that the kunai shrapnel Sakura had deemed a low priority had been laced with poison. With several fragments lodging themselves into his torso through his shoulder, so amputating his arm was off the table.

It had been 6 days since the siege of the Leaf began and the casualties had been pouring in ever since. Sakura could not even remember the last time she had slept, or stopped to eat, or even sat down. She had just been popping Military Ration Pellets like mints to replenish her chakra after every other surgery. It wasn't even that she was the only remaining surgeon in the Leaf. There were dozens of surgeons, both civilian and ninja core, who were busy working in the hospital and in the field hospital that was set up over in the village's central park. But with Lady Tsunade and Shizune both deceased, the burden of the greatest medical kunoichi in the world fell unopposed onto Sakura's shoulders.

Now she just had to treat thousands of critically injured patients with no anesthetic, no more chakra pills, and bandages made from old mattress stuffing.

"I'M GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA DIE!" The Genin cried, his cheeks stained with tears.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE YOU BIG BABY!" Sakura snapped, making the two nurses look at her in shock. Normally, Sakura might have been embarrassed by her outburst, but she had had it. The whole world was going to Hell. She was getting no sleep. And to top it all off, somewhere along the chaotic and every shifting front lines, her teammates were fighting for the fate of the free world while she was stuck in here prolonging the inevitable.

Thankfully, her outburst managed to shut the blubbering kid up long enough for Sakura to slip out the last sliver of poisoned kunai.

"Got it." Sakura declared as she tossed the metal shard into the bowl with the rest of them.

"Sew him up. Stick him with the rest of the recovering patients." Sakura ordered the two nurses as she yanked her surgical mask off of her head. The straps had been digging into the back of her ears for hours. To the point that they actually chafed. "I'm going on break."

Neither one of the nurses dared object to Sakura's decision. She had after all been performing surgeries for 24 hours straight with a three-hour nap to break up her previous round of 24 straight hours of surgery. Yet the wounded just kept on coming.

' _They're doing this on purpose.'_ Sakura thought as she headed out of the OR and washed her hands clean of the caked on sweat from all the disposable gloves she had to wear. _'They wound our troops and don't capture them. So that they come back here and we get overwhelmed to the point that our entire medical division breaks down.'_

She had to hand it to Sasuke. He was one twisted fucking genius.

Although, Sakura couldn't give all the credit to Sasuke. The pinked haired medic was certain that Sasuke's own Head Medic Karin had something to do with this plan as well. It wouldn't surprise the Second Slug Sannin. Karin could always be trusted to come up with a new poison every other month that would keep Sakura up for days while she tried to devise a cure and a nulling agent. It was like a high aggressive, highly lethal bake off. Karin would cook up a new poison recipe and Sakura would cook up an antidote to counter it. The winner was decided if this poison killed more or less ninjas than last time.

Sakura walked out of the OR prep room and headed down the hallways where every conceivable space was filled to the brim with the dead and the dying. Men and women from ages 12-50 filled the rooms with moans and cries of agony. Ever since the Leaf's walls had fallen every ninja from the greenest Genin to the retired Jounin had been called into service. They all knew what this last battle meant. Their extermination.

So many lives being snuffed out, so many still flickering like candles in the wind. Sakura's heart had long since shattered.

Flashforward…

As Sakura sat awake in her hospital bed, the sound of all of her closest friends lightly snoring after they had finally managed to fall asleep. Their gentle breathing was soothing to her, yet thinking about all the nurses she left behind, all the patients she had left unattended to, she couldn't make herself feel worthy of sleep.

' _Looks like you win, Karin.'_ Sakura thought to herself before she heard the mattress opposite of her squeaking. The rest of the Konoha 11 that were accounted for had already fallen asleep, and she knew just by which mattress squeaked who was up.

Sakura turned her head to confirm her guess. A short, spiky blond haired boy walked over to hospital window and slid the glass panel open. For a second Sakura thought that Naruto was going to leap out and escape the hospital like he always used to whenever she would admit him and force him to stay in bed after he had pushed himself too far. But instead, Naruto took a seat on the open window and stared out towards the village's night lights in the distance.

"Naruto?" Sakura whispered, not even certain that she had said his name aloud at all, but Naruto immediately turned to face her.

"Sakura-chan? Sorry, did I wake you?" Naruto whispered back. It always lightened Sakura's heart to hear him continue to use his old pet name for her. Even after he had given up on her.

"No…truth be told I hadn't even fallen asleep yet." Sakura whispered as she drew back her covers and let her tired aching feet touch the ice-cold hospital tile floors.

"You can't sleep either, huh?" Naruto said as Sakura walked carefully over to him, making sure not to disturb the others.

"Every time I try, I keep thinking about the siege." Sakura admitted. No need to be vague since they both knew that Naruto understood perfectly what she was going through.

"For me it's the fighting in the streets." Naruto elaborated.

"All those surgeries." Sakura said.

Naruto nodded.

"It doesn't seem real." Sakura added. "Like everything we went through a few days ago was a dream. Or where we are right now is a dream. That if I go to sleep then I'll wake up and be back as a 22 year old performing surgeries in the middle of a warzone. Or I won't and I'll realize that the last ten years of my life were the dream. And I don't know which is scarier." Sakura admitted as she leaned against the glass window, pressing her aching temple to the cool glass.

"I know what you mean. But the real scary part is that both worlds are real." Naruto said as the late-night winds of spring blew past his face and entered the room, clearing out the stink of high grade cleaning fluid.

"So then I really did leave all those injured patients to die under my care." Sakura whispered as her fist tightened. She felt like a disgrace to all the medical professionals that came before her. She wasn't worthy of any of the training her master Tsunade had given her.

' _You were going to abandon them when you wanted to sacrifice your life to send Naruto-kun back in time, remember?'_ Inner Sakura pointed out.

' _I did it because I thought that our timeline would change in an instant. We would complete the jutsu and the Leaf would completely change. No more war, no more wounded ninjas, it would be peace.'_ Sakura rationed to herself.

' _Yes, and we would have lost our chance to finally be with Naruto-kun once and for all.'_ Inner thought bitterly.

' _He doesn't love me like that anymore.'_

' _Only because you were lying to yourself the first time you confessed to him! You wouldn't be lying anymore!'_ Inner shrieked.

' _He deserves better and he has more important things to think about besides my crush on him.'_ Sakura sadly thought to herself.

' _And what about us? Don't we deserve better? After all the shit we've gone through, don't we get to be selfish? Or is happiness only allowed to those who have suffered enough?'_

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto repeated, snapping Sakura out of her mental conversation.

"Huh, sorry, what was that?" Sakura asked.

"I said that it's not your fault." Naruto repeated. "You couldn't have known that this jutsu would send you back too. And I know for a fact that you did everything in your power to help those people."

"And how do you know that?" Sakura asked with her exhausted voice.

"Because I know you, Sakura-chan. There is no one else I know more dedicated to helping people than you." Naruto smiled, making Sakura think it was daytime for an instant. She looked down to try and hide her blush.

"Thanks, Naruto. You always know how to cheer me up." Sakura smiled back.

"Hey, what are best friends for?" Naruto asked.

"Treating you to Ramen?" Sakura responded, using their old joke between them.

"Exactly."

The two of them shared a chuckle. Making sure not to wake anyone else up. Once their laughter was silent they just let themselves sit and stand quietly together. Neither one of them wanting to break up this nice moment.

Sakura's eyes drifted out towards the black silhouette of the village's apartment district. Where every so often you could see bedroom lights going out as one night owl after another finally decided to give in to the Sandman. One light however looked peculiar to Sakura and she couldn't place why until to recognized that familiar flicker and noticed the black smoke rising above it, blotting out the stars directly above it.

"An apartment fire?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"Yes. Specifically, mine." Naruto stated with absolute certainty.

Sakura looked at him with a degree of alarm and confusion. "How can you tell?"

"I can sense all the hatred amassing around the fire. People crying out for blood. Wanting Kurama and me to burn in Hell. And most of them mourning the loss of their loved ones from twelve years ago." Naruto explained. Ever since he had completed his Sage training and mastered Kurama's chakra he could automatically sense malicious intentions from nearly 10 miles around. It almost scared Sakura sometimes of how godlike Naruto had become over the years. But it had certainly proved invaluable over the years in countering sneak attacks and ambushes. She could even count on one hand how many times Naruto had personally saved her life with that specific power.

"Don't tell me this actually happened six months before we graduated." Sakura asked, wanting to run out to the angry mob and curb stomp all of them against the pavement. Intentions that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.

"No. I think this has more to do with Sasuke. A few people think it's tragic that a boy like the Uchiha who endured such misery in his life as losing his entire clan would now be driven out of the village by that crazy demon brat and his friends." Naruto stated.

Sakura gritted her teeth, trying to control her anger. Leave it up to the ignorant demon hating villagers to put Sakura in a bad mood. "After Pain and the 4th War…for a time at least, I actually forgot how nasty the villagers used to treat you." Sakura admitted.

"So did I." Naruto lied. He would never forget, but that was the whole point of forgiving, wasn't it?

"I just want to run down there and beat some senses into those damn villagers. How dare they treat an innocent child the way they did. No matter who or what they lost it doesn't make it right." Sakura said bitterly.

"That's what I love about you, Sakura-chan. You would take on the pain of all the world if it meant lifting the burden of others." Naruto said with a smile. Yet Sakura did not return this smile.

' _You love me, yet you will not love me. That's great, Naruto. Really great.'_ Sakura thought bitterly.

"Well, I think I can fall asleep now. Thanks for the talk, Naruto." Sakura said.

"Glad to help. I think I'll stay up a little later." Naruto said.

"Just be sure to get some rest. We have a long day of picking up everyone's stuff tomorrow." Sakura reminded him.

"I will." Naruto said as Sakura headed back to her bed and slipped under the thin hospital blankets.

"Good night, Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered from over at the window.

"Good night, Naruto-kun." Sakura yawned without thinking.

"I swear to the Sage I will get you two together if it is the last thing I do." Ino muttered to Sakura so softly that only the pinked haired medic could hear it. Sakura just ignored her and let her mind drift off to the first chance of blissful sleep she had had in months.

* * *

The next morning, the Konoha 10 had been escorted by a team of ANBU to their various homes to pick up everything they would need to move in to their new base of operations.

First stop, their leader, Naruto's apartment.

Kiba kicked over an upright piece of charcoal and watched it crumbled beneath his sandal.

"Sage of Six Paths, and I thought your apartment as a shithole before." Kiba declared as he and the rest of the Konoha 10 stood in the smoldering remains of Naruto's apartment complex.

Not satisfied with just burning down Naruto's unit, the angry mob felt the need to purify the entire apartment structure with flames while the poor families that lived inside had to scramble to safe what few precious belongings they could. They were all off crying down on the side of the roads, sitting next to all of their remaining worldly possessions while 10 Academy Students shifted through ash three stories above the street.

"Not funny, Kiba." Ino said she stepped over what once was Naruto's dinner table. By the grace of whatever architectural genius designed this building back during the earliest days of the Leaf, the fire had spread to all floors and yet the actual floors remained intact enough to walk upon.

"Just trying to lighten the mood." Kiba said as he walked through the bathroom walls to join Shino outside the apartment. Where the bug user was keeping an eye on the street incase another mob of demon haters showed up for an afterparty.

"Save your jokes for when we are in your room trying to salvage your things that haven't been spray painted by your cousins after they discovered that you are a demon lover." Shino said bluntly.

"Low blow, Shino." Kiba said. He never liked talking about his family's deep seated hatred for Naruto and Kurama. Mostly because that night that Kurama was under Obito's control, Kiba's father and half of his clan was wiped out. Even after the 4th Shinobi War, when Naruto had saved the entire ninja world, Kiba's mother still wouldn't have his named mentioned at the dinner table. No matter how much of the clan had seen the error of their ways. Now all of that was gone and they were back to square one.

"You're lucky that your clan is so understanding. You never had to be ostracized for standing up for your friend."

"My clan understands better than any other what it is like to be shunned and feared for what you contain in your own body. Something you never had a choice about to begin with." Shino said, referring to his clan's tradition to turn infants into hives for the clan's beetles. One of Shino's first ever memories was feeling the sensation of having a 100,000 insects crawling around underneath his skin.

"Yup. Still glad I'm not a member though." Kiba said, earning an agreeing yip from Akamaru who was busy resting atop Kiba's head.

"Fair enough." Shino said.

As they were talking, Naruto, Choji, and Sakura were all finishing prying the open the fused metal hatch the 3rd Hokage had installed for Naruto after the first time his apartment was burned down.

"One…two…THREE!" Naruto cried, as one, all three of them yanked at the metal panel until it finally peeled open.

"HaHA! Got you, you son of a bitch!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped down into the secret compartment.

"What have you got?" Shikamaru asked from his supervisor position compete with lit cigarette.

"I've got my lockbox." Naruto said as he hoisted out a small, white, beat up looking box and placed it on the ground.

"Sakura-chan, you want to open that? The combination is 12-34-68." Naruto said as he ducked down to grab some more of his precious possessions.

Sakura knelt down and entered the combination. It opened with a satisfying click to treasures that weren't satisfying at all. Inside, Sakura found a wooden toy kunai, a dirty orange rag that Sakura could see had been written on with black marker that read BLANKY, and a test from their 3rd Year in the Academy that Naruto had managed to score an A+ on. It was all so pathetic that Sakura wanted to cry. These were Naruto's treasures worth saving from a fire.

"Good news, guys, I have two week's worth of fresh orange jackets down here. One for each of us if you want." Naruto joked.

"Hell no! We are going to the store and finding you an all-black jacket like you wore back in our timeline. I'm sick of looking at that ugly ass winter jacket." Ino declared.

"Personally, I'd settle for the mix of black and orange jacket you wore when you came back to the Leaf. Now that one was a classic." Sakura said as she carefully folded the wooden kunai into the blanket and then the blanket around the A+ test.

"How about we worry about Naruto's fashion sense later?" Shikamaru recommended. Do you at least have your essential clothes?"

"Yeah, I've got close toed shoes." Naruto listed off as plopped the boots out of his secret compartment and onto what used to be his carpet. "Ten pairs of socks to go with them, enough boxers to last me through to laundry day, some T-shirts I'm pretty sure will still fit me, a few shorts to go along with that, this pair of skinny jeans that I don't know where they came from…" Naruto dug in deep. "And these pair of novelty glasses with fake mustache built in, in case we need to go incognito."

The Saku-Shika-Cho trio snickered when they saw Naruto raise his head up with those ridiculous toy glasses on.

"Oh, and something even better…" Naruto said as he ducked back into his treasure trove one last time. All eyes turned on him before he leapt out of his hole and held up golden paperback covers of his secret stash of nudie magazines.

"PlayNinja? You glorious bastard!" Kiba cried out when he spotted the cover depicting a scantily dressed women with fishnet stockings and a kunai belt wrapped tightly around her thigh. She sat on her sides as she licked the handle of kunai while she held the blade between her painted nails.

Sakura then immediately snatched the dirty magazines out of Naruto upraised hand and tossed them carelessly over the balcony to the streets below.

"Damn it, Sakura!" Naruto cried. "Do you know what I had to go through to acquire that collection?"

"No, and I don't care." Sakura said bluntly.

"Sakura, seriously!" Kiba whined. "We have to go through puberty again. Do you really expect us to do that without porn?"

"I don't care what you expect. I'm not living in a dorm with pornography." Sakura stated firmly.

"Yeah! If you want to look at beautiful woman, then you'll have to look at us!" Ino declared as she stuck a sexy pose.

"Pig!" Sakura growled.

"What? We're all 22 years old, mentally. It's just physically that's the problem." Ino argued.

"Ino, this isn't going to be a university dorm. We aren't going to be spending our time at the base running around and screwing." Shikamaru lectured.

"Why not? Lee and Tenten are gonna be doing that!" Ino whined.

"Lee and Tenten are going to be doing what?" Tenten shouted from the streets below. Everyone ran over to the sides to see that Lee and Tenten had returned from her father's metal shop, hopefully with enough sealing scrolls to carry all of their stuff.

"Having sex, duh." Ino said bluntly.

"Keep dreaming your perverse dreams, Yamanaka." Tenten called out with a blush.

"Oh come on…I know you two are both 13 now, but surely the old urges will kick back in and…" Ino paused as she noticed their reactions. "Oh my God…it can't be. You two have never had sex?"

"So what?!" Tenten sputtered.

"So you two have been together for four years and I just assumed…" Ino said.

"Tenten wants to wait until marriage and I want what Tenten wants." Lee stated firmly, coming to his girlfriend's rescue.

"So you mean to tell me all those times we all gave you two the private rooms during the stake-outs, you weren't bumping uglies in there?" Ino snickered.

"No! But we certainly appreciated not having to listen to your snoring, Pig." Tenten said, pissing Ino off. Only Forehead got to call Ino, Pig.

"I do not snore." Ino snarled.

"Yes you do." The Saku-Shika-Cho trio answered as one.

"Like a fat little piggy." Sakura added.

"Forehead…" Ino growled as she shared a hated stare down with the best friend and rival.

"Did you get everything you needed?" Naruto asked Lee and Tenten.

"Yup." Tenten said as she tossed the blond a storage scroll, who caught it 3 stories into the air.

"I've got all we need. Although I daresay you won't be needing more than one."

"Yeah. Hey, speaking of which. Do either of you want identical orange and blue jackets? I've got 14 that will probably go to waste." Naruto jokingly offered.

"Hmmm…." Lee hummed as he seriously contemplated this. "I'd love one."

Tenten looked at Lee, but then shrugged her shoulders. "I supposed I'll take one too." She said. "Heck, if the whole saving the future thing doesn't pan out, we could always form a band."

Naruto snickered. "I didn't think of that. I'll just grab them all now."

"You do that." Tenten said. "Oh and head's up. We ran into Hinata on our way here, but she stopped at a nearby baker to buy cinnamon rolls."

"Oh man, I hope she'll bring back enough for everyone." Kiba said.

"She did." Hinata replied as she walked up to them on the street. "Good Lord, what happened to Naruto-kun's apartment!"

"Oh you should have been here, Hinata. We were having this huge bonfire to celebrate all the good times Naruto has had with his old apartment. One thing led to another and…"

"Kiba." Ino growled.

"Okay, I'm kidding. What really happened was there was this huge spider…"

"Kiba!" Sakura growled.

"Guys, seriously. You don't need to tip toe around me about this. I've got no love for this shitty apartment. I'm laughing right along with Kiba." Naruto said as he leapt off of his balcony and landed right next to Hinata and her box of baked goods. "Now this right here, smells like it is worth crying over." Naruto declared as he inhaled the heavenly scent.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. Dig in." Hinata said as she opened the box to reveal it to jampacked with cinnamon rolls cut up into bite-sized chunks.

"Don't you usually get these whole?" Naruto asked.

"I now prefer them this way." Hinata smiled as she plucked one of the cinnamon bites and popped it into her mouth. Her face scrunched up in sweet gooey bliss. "Mmmm…"

Naruto followed suit and popped two bites into his gob. "Delicious." Naruto sighed.

Sakura growled at their interaction before she jumped down to join them. She ate one of the cinnamon bites and lost her will to stay annoyed immediately. They were just too good.

Soon everyone else joined in and the Konoha 10 found themselves sitting on the sidewalk with a nearly empty box of cinnamon bites passing between them and sticky fingers.

"So Hinata, what did your father have to say to you?" Ino asked. Hiashi being the reason that Hinata had to visit her home first. Hinata licked her fingers clean before answering.

"He told me that he was uncomfortable with the thought of me living so close to other boys, but he was also proud of me that I was finally bringing honor to the clan by joining our "special ANBU training."" Hinata said before she took a sip of her orange juice. "He also said he loved me."

Sakura paused mid sip of her coffee. "He did? Well that's…nice…"

"It is…" Hinata said as she leaned forward to hug her legs. "I think he said that he loved me once before in our previous timeline. Right before he died of throat cancer."

Everyone paused in moment of silence for Hinata's sake. Her father's death had been sudden and devastating for Hinata in the early days of the 5th War. And it had ruined any chances Hinata and Naruto had of convincing the Hyuga Clan Elders to change their ways, which ended up costing the entire Shinobi Alliance very dearly.

Hinata soon found her lap being filled by Akamaru as the white furred puppy tried to cheer up the Hyuga princess by cuddling with her. Hinata cracked a smile as she started scratching Akamaru behind the ears, feeling his soft fur.

"But hey, that's why we're all back here right?" Ino said. "I mean we didn't plan on it. But that's why we're here. We're gonna do things right this time around. We're going to get your dad to quit smoking. Get the main clan to join with the branch clan. And then we are gonna save the world."

Hinata rubbed her eyes and all of the Konoha 11 looked on with smiles. "Believe it." Hinata smiled.

"Oh my God, that's so lame, Hinata." Naruto stated.

"Seriously." Sakura added, and the whole group burst out laughing.

"Screw you both." Hinata exclaimed, earning even more laughs among the group, even from the Hyuga heiress.

The Konoha 10 all sat around and chatted for a bit, enjoying their cinnamon rolls and each other's company. Relaxing together for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime.

As they were relaxing, up on the highest rooftops, out of sight, two men stood over the crowd of kids and observed them. One of them a giant of a man with a lion's mane of white hair, dressed as a hermit sage in red and dull green, with a metal headband on his forehead that bore the kanji symbol for Oil on its front. The other man wore the standard Jounin outfit with his own inclusion of a facemask that covered everything from his eyes down. And his left eye was even covered by his Leaf headband like an eyepatch. The Sage smiled down at the children, specifically at Naruto. While the Jounin pretended to be disinterested by staring at his little orange book.

"So it's just as the Old Man said, Naruto has actually managed to make some friends." The Sage smirked.

"So it would appear…" The masked Jounin said as he turned a page, making the Sage look over at him.

"Hey, I know my book is impossible to put down, but I can tell that you aren't reading it." The Sage stated.

"Apologies, Lord Jiraiya, my thoughts are preoccupied." The Jounin admitted.

"Like how are you supposed to make up to your Jounin-sensei and his wife for leaving their son to fend for himself all these years?" Jiraiya said bluntly. "Eh, Kakashi?"

Kakashi looked up from his book titled Make-Out Paradise to stare down its author. "I was here in the Leaf fending off the worst of his attackers."

"And my spy network was making sure that no one who noticed the similarities between my godson's looks and a certain beloved Hokage's looks, ever got to express those thoughts with any of Minato's enemies." Jiraiya stated. "Not to mention the fact that I funded that damn apartment for the boy and all the food in his belly for all these years."

"It still doesn't feel like enough, does it?" Kakashi asked, only because he knew.

"No, it doesn't…" Jiraiya said bitterly. "I should have taken him with me. Raised him up as a real Godfather would. But I was too arrogant and cowardly to take on the responsibility. Figuring that the Leaf could raise him if I just foot the bill." Jiraiya's chakra began to rise. "I failed him."

Kakashi looked up from his book towards Naruto who was laughing along with his friends at a joke one of them had made. "No, you didn't. By all rights, he should have turned out a lot worse."

"Is that supposed to make it better?" Jiraiya asked before shaking his head. "I didn't come back to the Leaf to have a pity party with you."

"I figured as much." Kakashi said as he returned to his book.

"The Third summoned me back, saying that there was an emergency. What he ended up telling me I almost didn't believe." Jiraiya stated.

"Something you're going to share with me?" Kakashi asked as he turned another page.

"Lord Third is probably going to summon you very soon to explain it to you, so you might as well know now." Jiraiya said. "Those ten down there, including Naruto, are all time travelers from ten years in the future.

Kakashi stopped his fake reading and looked up at Jiraiya with his one uncovered eye.

"I didn't believe it either at first, but the kids managed to convince the Hokage and I've never known Lord Hiruzen to be an easily deceived man." Jiraiya argued.

"Not easily deceived, the point being that he could still be deceived." Kakashi pointed out.

"True." Jiraiya admitted as Naruto suddenly looked up, directly at Jiraiya and Kakashi.

None of them said a word as the rest of Naruto's friends took notice of him staring and followed his eye line to the two infamous Leaf veterans. They all looked surprised but it was Naruto who finally raised his hand up to give a weak wave at the two shinobi.

' _This kid might be the real deal. No Genin should be able to sense me.'_ Jiraiya thought as he waved back nervously.

"It's him… it's really him…" Naruto said to himself, overheard by all his friends.

No one said a word, they all knew how important the Toad Sannin was to Naruto. He was the closest thing Naruto ever had to a father figure. He trained Naruto for three years when they were out traveling the world together. He had also sacrificed himself fighting the figurehead leader of the Akatsuki; Pain. Whom Naruto later defeated to save the Leaf village and avenge his master.

' _ **Kit, you okay?'**_ Kurama asked when he noticed that Naruto hadn't stopped waving.

' _Yeah…yeah, I'm good.'_ Naruto thought as he smiled at Jiraiya, alive and well. The Toad Sage and the Copy Cat ninja then flash-stepped out of sight, but Naruto didn't seem to mind.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, curious as to why the blond seemed to turn so happy on a dime.

"In all the stuff that's gone on, I almost forgot that Pervy Sage was alive." Naruto laughed. "Maybe this new timeline won't be so bad after all."

Sakura smirked. Leave it to Naruto to find the bright side of things. "Yeah, I think you're right."

"I would hope it's not all doom and gloom for us. I think I speak for everyone when I say we could use a vacation." Ino stated, which made everyone mummer in agreement.

Naruto stood up and stretched his short adolescent legs, raising up his arms to the sun.

"Well if these are the few moments that we have left before we get down to saving the world then I am going—

' _To grab some ramen?'_ Sakura guessed.

-to grab some Ichiraku's Ramen." Naruto declared.

No one dared tease the man for his ramen obsession…this time. After watching Ichiraku's being destroyed after the first night of the siege. Well, there were just some things you let a man have.

"Yeah, I need to grab my stuff from my house too." Kiba declared, hoisting Akamaru off of the ground and plopped him back onto his head. The rest of the gang all muttered agreements of their own and just as easily as they came together they all split up to get their stuff for their new living quarters.

* * *

Sakura held her breath as she stood outside the tiny two-story apartment that was once her home.

Correction, it was her home. Back when she was a Chunin. After the 4th War had ended one of Lady Tsunade's last acts as Hokage was to approve Sakura and many of her friends to the rank of Jounin. That very day Sakura and Ino had gotten together and put a down payment on that cute little apartment they had talked about in the shopping district of the Leaf. It was so nice to get a place of her own with some actual freedom, even if that meant putting up with Ino bringing Sai home at every opportunity.

Sakura had to take a moment to shake off the heebie-jeebies from remembering the all the awkward mornings that had occurred whenever Sai _slept over._

How it was possible that his milky white ass was even paler in his bathing suit area still gave Sakura nightmares.

Without thinking, Sakura knocked on her own door before remembering her younger self kept her house key in her pocket. The front door swung open to an empty home. To Sakura's right was a tiny living room with a love seat and couch surrounding a messy coffee table stacked with magazines, with a gas fireplace further to the right surrounded by family photos. In the back of the open room was a kitchen faintly smelling of Sakura's mother's cooking. To the left of the kitchen there was a dark hallway that led to a few rooms for storage, laundry, and the backyard. And finally, there was the stairs that Sakura could head directly up if she hugged the wall on her left, leading up to the bedrooms on the second floor.

"Mom? Dad?" Sakura called out, to no response. Only the sensation of a draft breezing through the house.

Sakura reached for her gloves before remembering that she didn't have them. She tightened her fists instead, ready for anything. After checking to make sure that all the windows and backdoor on the 1st floor were secured, Sakura scurried up the staircase. Her imagination probably getting the better of her, but she had to be certain.

From the top of the stairs the 2nd floor led into an L shaped hallway with doors to her bedroom, the guest bedroom, the main bathroom, and the master bedroom. The door was opened just a crack, light from the window poured out into the hallway. Sakura didn't like this one bit.

She burst through the door to spot an empty bedroom with the window shut but unlocked. Her chakra sensing wasn't world renounced, but Sakura could easily pick up the chakra trail of the ANBU agent who had just slipped out of her house.

' _Probably looking for some dirt on me. Where is the trust?'_ Sakura thought before relaxing her guard. She proceeded to turn on some lights in her house to turn the creepiness down to a dull roar and headed into her room to pack. Upon entering her bedroom, she spotted a note laying on her nightstand.

 _Sakura,_

 _Just wanted to remind you that we will be gone until the 7_ _th_ _at your father's business conference. Some premade dinners are waiting for you in the fridge. Just heat them up by following the instructions written on the containers. Be sure to brush your teeth and go to bed on time. We'll see you in a few days._

 _Love Mom_

' _Oh right, Mom and Dad went on a business trip around this time, didn't they?'_ Sakura asked herself.

' _Seems like it. So much for having to beg the to let you go to the base with everyone.'_ Inner thought.

' _One less argument I didn't feel like having today anyway.'_ Sakura thought as she carefully placed the note back on her nightstand. In truth, another part of her was sincerely hoping that she could see her parents right now. She hadn't seen their faces in over a year, ever since she convinced them to move to the neutral country of Wave for the remainder of the war.

' _It's okay… They're alive and safe. No one is out to hurt them.'_ Inner reassured.

' _No, they are not. Not while Sasuke remains at large.'_ Sakura sniffed, feeling her exhausting slipping through the cracks.

' _Hey, Sasuke has better things to do than threaten your parents. He and the rest of our enemies are weak right now. Too weak to be a threat. They won't be attacking anyone anytime soon.'_

' _For now.'_ Sakura emphasized. She put those thoughts to one side for now and proceeded to strip her closet of all of her clothes she could fit into storage scrolls. What followed was a whole lot of…

' _Oh my Sage, I thought I lost this shirt…'_

' _You're kidding, I used to wear this?'_

' _Now this is cute…'_

Inside of a half an hour, Sakura was all packed and ready to go. All that was left to decide was if she should take her bedroom pillow with her or not. It was a tiny thing, but Sakura just preferred thin pillows over thick ones.

'Screw it. I'm gonna be living there for Sage knows how long. Go for comfort.' Sakura thought as she picked up her main bed pillow, revealing a tiny pink journal hidden underneath.

'My diary? I forgot all about that thing.' Sakura thought as she sat back down on her bed and cracked it open.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Today, I got an A+ on my Ninjutsu Pop Quiz. Ino-Pig looked so jealous._

Sakura smirked. Dull and typical, but what could you expect from a young girl's diary entry?

She turned the page to the next day.

 _Dear Dairy,_

 _Today Sasuke-kun gave me a pencil when mine broke! He's so awesome and handsome._

Sakura gagged when she read that. _'The hell was wrong with me?'_ She thought.

She turned the page.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Today, Sasuke-kun looked my way during class! He's so handsome!_

Sakura cringed at all the little hearts she had drawn around Sasuke's name. Followed by her rewriting her name as _Sakura Uchiha_ and _Sakura Haruno Uchiha_ over and over again.

 _'Gag me...'_ Inner said in disgust of being reminded of that time.

 _'If I could meet my younger self I would backhand her.'_ Sakura agreed.

 _'Well, you are your younger self, technically.'_ Inner pointed out.

 _'Whatever.'_ Sakura thought before turning the page. Hoping to find some other entry that didn't involve Sasuke so that she might cleanse her palate.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Naruto is such a jerk! He picked another fight with Sasuke-kun and hurt him! How dare that little idiot hurt Sasuke-kun! It's no wonder he has no friends or family. Who would want THAT around them?_

Sakura's blood froze. Over the years, she had developed a kind of defensive nature concerning Naruto, defending him from any assholes that would talk behind his back. Even years after he saved the village from Pain there were always one or two civilians who couldn't let go of their prejudices. But to read this kind of talk from Sakura's own handwriting, it relit some old and shameful memories for the pink medic.

 _He's such a loser and a nobody. I just wish that Sasuke-kun would swoop in one day and kill that jerk for me. Then carry me off to the sunset..._ The journal continued on the next page. Complete with a little drawing of Sakura and Sasuke arm in arm with dozens of hearts over their heads while Naruto lay below their feet with his head chopped off of his body.

Sakura gripped her diary so hard the pages of her diary started to crumble and grow damp. Without meaning to Sakura was channeling her chakra nature through the pages, something that only should have been possible with chakra paper, but Sakura's rage at her younger self was too great.

How could she…

Possibly…

Have loved…

That bastard?

With each thought, she ripped her diary into more halves, until the whole thing was a mushy pile of pulp. To think she had been so obsessed with him, it was creepy and disgusting. She didn't even want to look in a mirror for fear that she would want to punch her younger self.

Her mind drifted back to the day she had arrived back in time. She was up on one of the higher rows of desks, looking down upon Naruto and Sasuke. At first, she thought she was dead, then when Sasuke tried to attack Naruto her instincts kicked in automatically. Had she not jumped into the fray at that very minute…she didn't want to think of what might have happened. But her younger self…

Sakura took the pile of mush that was once her journal and threw it in her waste paper bin by her bedroom desk. Her younger self might have cheered for Sasuke to kill Naruto. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but it infuriated Sakura to even consider it.

She grabbed her storage scroll and left her room in a huff. She couldn't stand to be in the same room as the girl she used to be. So weak and full of herself without anything but some useless book smarts to back it up. And she used to have the gall to talk down to Naruto. She stormed down the steps and slammed the front door behind her as she left her childhood home for the second time.

Sakura caught herself right in the middle of the street and looked back. Her house looked so empty. This wasn't at all how she expected her morning to go. It wasn't supposed to be a bitter goodbye. Sure she expected to argue with her parents, but then again she expected her parents to be there in the first place.

The pink haired time traveler sighed before she went back to lock the door, letting her hand linger on the doorknob before heading off to meet with the others.

' _This isn't the end. Save the world for good this time. Then I can come home and live a normal life.'_ She decided.

* * *

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted as soon as Sakura arrived at the designated meeting point. She returned the greeting and the two of them leaned against the nearby wall to wait for the rest of the gang.

"Hey, Naruto." Sakura said listlessly.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What's up? You get into an argument with your folks?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, just…had trouble finding some stuff. Left me frustrated."

Naruto could tell that wasn't the whole truth, but also knew that Sakura preferred not to be prodded every once in a while. "Yeah, we've all been there."

Sakura gave an uneasy smile and leaned up against the wall next to where Naruto was relaxing until the rest of the gang arrived, followed by the 3rd Hokage and his small team of ANBU bodyguards. One with a Walrus mask and the other with a Sparrow mask.

"Follow me." Hiruzen instructed as soon as everyone was gathered together.

To a passing civilian, it looked like your typical average old man in robes leading a gaggle of schoolchildren into a narrow alleyway out of sight. To the ninjas, it didn't look any less shady, but that was because they didn't see the 3rd Hokage trace his finger down a specific spot on the wall, opening up a secret passageway leading underground.

The Konoha 10 followed behind quickly and quietly, memorizing the pathway in the underground maze of tunnels used by the ANBU. The hallways were long, dark, and made of cold, smooth concrete. Exactly the kind of timeless interior decorating the Black Ops ninjas were known for.

"The tunnels have secret entry points scattered all throughout the village. They can only be accessed by those with registered chakra signatures. We shall add all of your chakra signatures in time so that you may enter and exit your base freely." Hiruzen explained.

Naruto and the rest nodded. This was all standard stuff that they knew back in their timeline. That didn't make it any less awesome to hear though.

After a hundred yards of walking, the group arrived at a set of double doors marked with faint writing etched above the doors.

 _LIVING QUARTERS NUM. 3_

"Ah, home sweet home." Naruto declared as he swung open the double doors for everyone to reveal the 50 by 30 foot box they would call home base.

Complete with six metal bunkbeds shoved into a corner, a couple of footlockers beneath them, three fold-up tables, 12 chairs, a portable electric stove sitting atop of mini fridge, and a large ten year old box TV sitting in the corner.

"Well this is depressing." Choji said as he threw his duffle bag onto one of the metal spring mattresses.

"I apologize. I will have the ANBU scavenge mattresses for you all to sleep on tonight. This is all the ANBU could provide on such short notice." Hiruzen apologized.

"Remind me again why we can't keep living with our parents?" Ino asked as she tossed her store scroll containing all her storage scrolls full of clothes onto the head of her bed. "We told the Hokage and we're gonna tell our Jounin-sensei. Let's just tell everyone we care about and sleep in decent beds tonight."

"Too risky that information could leak out. Until we can at least defend ourselves, we'll just have to make do." Shikamaru said as he dropped his stuff onto his bed.

"At least we have a view." Tenten said as she pulled back the curtains on the southern wall to reveal more of the concrete wall.

The ANBU guarding the Hokage snickered to themselves, earning dirty looks from the Hokage.

"Sorry sir. It was a little prank to get back at Naruto after all these years." Walrus snickered. "Didn't think it would actually work."

"Oh yeah, you got me good." Naruto said as he nonchalantly threw his junk onto one of the top bunks.

"I'm the told the bathrooms are back through the western door." Hiruzen pointed to the single door opposite the double door entrance. "There you will find male and female bathrooms with a communal shower. So, work out a schedule for both genders."

"Guess it was too much to expect an underground hot spring what with all these other luxuries." Kiba said as he pulled out a chair and kicked his feet up on one of the tables.

"There is a secret tunnel out through the showers." Hiruzen said, making everyone's childlike side perk up. One by one they crowded into the bathrooms that had the barebones amenities that you would expect from a military bathroom, or "head." The men's and women's bathrooms all had doors at the end of their row of stalls that led to a changing room which led into a white tiled shower room with a dozen showerheads to accommodate all of the occupants at once. Something all the girls but Ino would never agree to.

Hiruzen walked up to the far wall of the shower room and placed his finger along the edge of one of the rectangular tiles, he then traced his finger along the perimeter and then pushed against the tile with his hand all in one swift motion. The wall pivoted without effort, revealing the secret door and the dark tunnel behind it.

"In case of an attack or a fire, this tunnel will lead you to the ANBU tunnels hidden underneath the Leaf village, which will lead you anywhere inside the village or to outside of the village's walls." Hiruzen explained. "Be warned, you cannot open this door from the other side once it is closed. Not without destroying it, of course."

"Of course," Naruto smirked, making Hiruzen smile as well.

"Feel free to decorate it as much as you want, I imagine you'll all be spending plenty of time here." Hiruzen said as he strolled back out to the front door. "If you need anything, come to me directly."

"We need our teachers with us." Shikamaru said.

"I'll have them meet you at the training grounds tomorrow morning after I brief them. I trust you all will know what your next move is by then?"

"Don't worry, Shikamaru will have a plan or two by then. He always does." Naruto praised.

"Amen to that." Choji added.

"Very well. I'll leave you all to it." Hiruzen said as he shut the door behind him.

As soon as the ten of them were all certain that he was gone, they all descended upon their bunker like a team of archeologists combing an excavation site. They looked under their beds, tables, chairs, behind the minifridge. Shino took a kunai out and unscrewed one of the light switches while Kiba checked the lightbulbs. Hinata's Byakugan scanned the walls, occasionally pointing out spots for Choji to punch the weak spots in the drywall. Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Ino meanwhile each inspected the bathrooms, unscrewing faucets and double checking the tile work. All the while Lee and Tenten kept watch of both exits.

An hour later, the group gathered together at the table to show what they had found. Five listening devices lay on the wooden table in front of them.

"Only five? Either the ANBU were sloppier back in the day or they just can't stop underestimating us." Shikamaru sighed.

"Peace time does turn men lax." Shino pointed out.

"True that, but as soon as we leave the bunker they are going to send guys in with more bugs in more obscure spots." Kiba added.

"Which will quickly turn into a drag." Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto, how long would it take you to develop a silencing seal for all of these devices?"

"To not tip anyone off that we're using a silencing seal?" Naruto assumed. "A week? Maybe more if I have to write it from scratch."

"If I just had the chakra to do my Mind Link Jutsu we could avoid all this." Ino grumbled.

"We're ninjas, we adapt to strife." Shikamaru reminded her. "Today at least, I think it is safe enough to talk freely."

Everyone nodded as the Nara heir pulled out a map from his pocket and unwrapped in on top of the disabled listening devices. The ten shinobi gazed upon the map of the world, listing all the different nations large and small that dominated the continent.

"Let's see…" Shikamaru spoke as he traced his finger over the map.

"We've got the Sand village that is in financial decline what with their Daimyo preferring to use the services of Sand's ninja allies over them, plus a crazed Jinchuriki boy occasionally killing anyone for any reason." Shikamaru pointed to the deserts of the Land of Winds east of their home, the Land of Fire.

"The Rock village, also in decline, who openly hate the Leaf after the latest war and their many humiliations by the 4th Hokage's hand." Shikamaru dragged his finger northward from the Sand towards the large rocky region of the Land of Earth.

"The Cloud village, that hates the Leaf for the same reason as Rock, but is financially sound enough that they would never ever consider the need to ally with us." Shikamaru said as he pointed towards the peninsula east of the Land of Earth, known as the Land of Lightning.

"The Land of Iron, where the samurai kill any ninja that steps inside their borders without an invitation." Shikamaru's finger traveled southwest to a smaller nation inside the belt of minor nations.

"The Sound village, where Sasuke is headed and will no doubt find a way to get Orochimaru to help him return to full strength. Along with helping Orochimaru raise up an even bigger army of cut throat thugs turned ninjas and curse mark monsters." Shikamaru's finger moved slightly to the right to the nation bordering the Land of Iron.

"Then there is the Mist village, where Mei Terumi is waging a silent civil war against the 4th Mizukage, the Three Tail's Jinchuriki, which will be made public knowledge in two years following the brainwashed Mizukage's death." Shikamaru's finger traced all the way to the farthest bottom right corner of the map where the large island known as the Land of Water was located.

"Back on the mainland, we have the Rain village, where the Akatsuki are located. Including Pain, Obito, and Black Zetsu." Shikamaru said as his finger landed on a minor nation bordering the Land of Earth, Fire, and Wind.

"Plus, all these different minor ninja nations bordering us that will either join Sasuke like they did before or stay out of the fighting entirely." Shikamaru's finger traced up and along the minor nations that acted as a barrier between the Lands of Fire, Wind, Earth, and Lightning.

"And finally, closer to home, we have Root. The underground ANBU division run exclusively by Danzo. Who hates the Third Hokage and all who share his ideal of the Will of Fire. And would definitely use our knowledge of the future to his own advantage. Plus, he has one of our own trapped in his ranks. Who could get made and be tortured for it." Shikamaru's finger returned to the second largest nation on the map, the Land of Fire, and to the Leaf village.

"We've certainly got our work cut out for us." Sakura said as they all studied the map.

"Not to mention all the Jinchuriki that need protecting." Naruto added.

"Right." Shikamaru said as he pulled out his pack of cigarettes he had managed to buy at one of the stores thanks to the handy dandy transformation jutsu. He stuck the cigarette in his teeth and lit the tip with some fire nature chakra. Everyone but Ino and Choji coughed when he exhaled the smoke.

"So…" Shikamaru breathed. "Where do we start?"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry this was so late. Finals and then a trip to New York and then working on getting an internship had me drained. And after that I just had to slog through a bad case of writer's block. I'm hoping by posting this chapter and receiving some reviews I can get my mojo back.**

 **(Side note: anyone in the New York area looking for recommendations to a show on Broadway, go see Come From Away. It's a musical about the aftermath of 9/11 that had me and the entire audience laughing, crying, and tapping our feet. That fact that I am giving them free advertising on my fanfiction should highlight how much I loved it. It made me feel so much pride for the Canadian side of my family and it was exactly what I needed after visiting the 9/11 memorial and museum. 10/10 would clap my hands raw again.)**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: Mission Start

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long gap in-between chapters. This summer hasn't been my most enjoyable. Coupled with a good old-fashioned bout of writer's block, it's hard to keep a schedule. And I wouldn't yet say that I've reached the point where things will go back to normal and something resembling a schedule can be maintained. Rest assured that I am committed until the end. But as with everything on this site, your word is only as good as your release schedule.**

 **With that in mind, I want to thank all my new favorites and followers, and for reaching the 50 reviewer mark. Special thanks go to Shinobi Gatana and DonningTheCowlOfTheDarkKnight who gave very long and delightful reviews (plus a few ideas for me to explore). And extra special thanks goes to Earl of Rosshire who explained to me the difference between the military terms of "Head" and "Latrine" and how the Leaf would most likely use the term Latrine. I'm probably too lazy to go back and correct it, but kudos to Earl for dropping that knowledge.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Mission Start!

Onryo Kuzukawa was not an honorable man.

Honorable men didn't get into his kind of work. They'd get eaten alive for one thing and they'd much rather prefer to be on the receiving end of his kind of work for another, but when their wives and mothers brought up Onryo's kind of work they would raise their noses up with them. Bunch of hypocrites.

It didn't matter to Onryo though, he didn't become a brothel keeper in the far corner of the Land of Fire to be an honest business man. He'd seen what an honest day's work paid and never looked back.

The boss who founded this joint had been good to Onryo, and the boss who ran after him had been good to. Onryo had removed them both without a second thought. He only spared a thought to his two biggest rivals in town, but in the end decided that the profits to be made far exceeded the desire for peace in this backwater village of vice.

Three years and a whole lotta hush money to the local Leaf Ninja guards later and the Twin Lotus and the Moaning Bunny were independent in name only from the Quivering Mountains.

Now there was nothing left to do but oversee the merchandise and count the Ryo as they came in. There was always talk of expanding out to other villages, but Mr. Kurukawa was ambitious, not stupid. He needed capital if he wanted a foothold in another mob's territory. Capital that he couldn't get with his current profit margins. He needed something new, something fresh, something to put his gang on the map without gathering too much of the wrong kind of attention.

Thankfully, Lord Jashin was smiling on Mr. Kurukawa that day.

"Boss!" One of his lackeys came bursting into his office, looking like a man who wasn't going to be whipped for barging into the Cola Gang leader's office unannounced.

"What?" Mr. Kurukawa snapped.

"We've got this drunk bum in the back with a crap ton of gambling debts." The thug reported.

"He the son of a Daimyo or something? That's the only good reason you should have for wasting my time." Kurukawa snapped.

"It's not a Lord, Boss. It's a Lady. A really special lady." The thug smirked.

That got Kurukawa's attention. The kind of girls they picked up were usually homeless orphans, runaways, and the daughters of farmers. Girls who didn't come with a lot of questions. Those that did could have their loved ones dissuaded fairly easy.

"Is this one a looker?" Kurakawa asked in a dismissive tone.

"A looker? Boss, she's the most drop dead gorgeous piece of ass I've ever seen!"

Kurakawa looked curious. His men were idiots, but they didn't have crap standards when it came to attractive women.

"Alright, but this had better be good." Kurakawa said as he stood up and followed his hired thug deep into his establishment. Past the hallways of tiny rooms stinking with sweat and other unspeakable odors. Hearing the moans of men and women in pleasure and in pain. The heat radiating off the beds. It was almost enough to make a man wish for a more honorable line of work. Almost.

The men entered through the second to last room at the end of the eastern most hall, the extra secluded one meant to look like a space for bachelor parties, but served a much more important purpose to Kurakawa's operations. On the wall to the left of the door there was decorated a mural of a man and women having intercourse. The woman painting was on top of the man, her spine thrown back in ecstasy and her hair twisting in the air, her right hand was held over her cheek while her left held hands with the man who looked to be drunk on lust. Kurakawa's minion didn't hesitate to walk towards the mural and place his hands of the woman's shoulder and her belly. He pressed the two spots on the wall simultaneously and heard a prominent clicking noise coming from the inside of the wall. Two seconds later, a secret door just right of the mural swung open and the two gang members spirited into the interior of the walls. Down two flights of stairs and one narrow corridor, Kurakawa and his thug found themselves in the brothal's secret basement, a dug-out storage room running the entire length and width of the building above them. The whole room was lit with torches that gave the place an eerie look that Kurakawa despised. He'd give anything to find a tasteful interior decorator to spruce this dungeon up, but you try to find a decent one who could keep his mouth shut. He was a glorified pimp, not a Daimyo.

In the center of his dungeon, surrounded by more of Kurakawa's boys, knelt two women hogtied with chakra rope. And at their feet, an actual hogtied pig with a beaded necklace and a vest. The two women had heshan bags over their heads and oddly, weren't struggling at all. Most women that they picked up tried to put up a fight. Judging by the several new shiny blackeyes that the boys were sporting, they had done just that, but realized the futility of struggling. That told Kurakawa one thing. These two were kunoichi, and experienced ones at that.

"Whom do we have here, Haruto?" Kurakawa asked his top enforcer, the 24-year-old rogue ninja known for his forehead tattoo and his pearl colored eyes.

"Two extremely powerful kunoichi. Took me and dozen other guys just to subdue this one." Haruto pointed to the older and curvier woman with a cleavage you could lose her pet pig in. "We got her in one of our casinos. She had racked up quite a debt and was too drunk to runaway properly. This other one put up a good fight too. Renly had to be taken to the doctor after he got hit with a couple of her senbon she had hidden under her sleeve. But a couple of hits to her chakra points and she was out like a light." Haruto said proudly.

"So if we know for a fact that they are tough kunoichi, why the Hell did you bring them here? You think their village isn't going to come looking for them?" Kurakawa spat.

"Nah. See, that's the beauty of it, boss. I know for a fact that these two are rogue ninjas." Haruto smirked as he grabbed the sack over the busty woman's head and gave it a yank.

The boys flinched, but Kurakawa's eyes went wide at who his captive turned out to be. Long blond hair, gorgeous face, purple diamond seal on her forehead. A face that anyone with a bingo book would know by heart. Once the pride of the Leaf, granddaughter to the 1st Hokage, the Queen of Slugs and Elixers, master of all things medical; The Rogue Kunoichi, Lady Tsunade Senju.

Kurakawa's wide eyes suddenly turned into Ryo signs.

"My, my, welcome, Lady Tsunade, into my employment." Kurakawa smirked.

* * *

The next morning, the Hokage and Jiraiya had gathered together all of the future Jounin-sensei into Hiruzen's office. Of them, only Jiraiya and Kakashi knew the true extent of their meeting.

"Thank you all for coming." Hiruzen said as he looked across at the Jounin and lone female Chunin assembled before him. Jiraiya stood next to him, heroically not saying a single word.

They were standing at attention in front of him in a straight line. The one the farthest to the right was Might Gai, recently released from the hospital in his regular ninja attire of his Jounin vest, orange leg warmers, and green jumpsuit. He appeared to be unharmed, but Kabuto's poison had left his voice hoarse. He would not be making any speeches about Youth anytime soon.

' _Thank God.'_ Hiruzen thought.

Next to Gai was his self-proclaimed eternal rival and infamous Copycat ninja Kakashi Hatake. With his standard Jounin attire and trademarked blue face mask covering everything below his eyes he looked like what many civilians perceived a ninja to be. His Leaf headband was also slanted over his left eye like an eyepatch. To anyone who didn't know Kakashi, they would think his face was horribly disfigured. When in reality his face was incredibly handsome. Rumors had circulated for years on the former ANBU Captain's true appearance, yet when Hiruzen finally caught a glimpse of what was behind the mask, he was thoroughly underwhelmed. Kakashi looked to be the least bit interested in this meeting, but only because Jiraiya had already told him everything.

Beside Kakashi was Hiruzen's eldest son Asuma. A man of thirty with a sharp beard and a laidback grin. He was dressed similar to Kakashi, only with the sash of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas hung out from underneath his Jounin vest. Hiruzen never liked that sash. It was a reminder of the years Asuma spent directly serving the Fire Daimyo instead of the Leaf. Officially, the position was considered an honor by the Konoha Military, yet Hiruzen knew the real reason his son had accepted the position to guard the Daimyo. It was to spite him. Something Hiruzen could hardly blame his son for, what with his duties as Hokage preventing Hiruzen from being the father he should have been to Asuma. Still, they had reconciled years ago and it was considered water under the bridge between them, but Hiruzen still didn't like being reminded of that time.

Asuma looked to be relaxed at being summoned to his father's office. He was casually chewing on the end of his lit cigarette and checking out his well-known secret girlfriend Kurenai Yuhi who stood next to him wrapped in a kunoichi robe of white wrappings.

Kurenai was the youngest of the four shinobi assembled and the only one who was still a Chunin. Hiruzen had recently reviewed her file for the upcoming Jounin selection and had already determined that she was ready.

Her blood red eyes looked straight ahead at Hiruzen, wanting to look as professional as possible, as a stark contrast to her three higher ranking peers.

"What I am about to share with you is to be considered a Triple S Class Secret of the Leaf. You are to share this information with no one outside of this room unless properly authorized. Is that clear?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yes, sir." Kurenai said.

"No problem, Lord Third." Asuma said, resisting the urge to respond with, "Dad."

"Hmmm…" Kakashi nodded, secrets were nothing new to the former ANBU Captain.

Gai nodded with an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"Very good. I understand that the three of you have submitted your applications to serve as leaders of a Genin Squad in the next few weeks when the Fall classes graduate." Hiruzen said. Part of the problem with ninja villages as large as the Leaf was the sheer number of Academy students that required an education. To accommodate these vast numbers, there were two sets of the same grade. One that would graduate in the Fall and one that would graduate in the Spring.

"And you, Kurenai, have expressed an interest in teaching Genin as soon as you become a Jounin?"

"Yes, sir." Kurenai answered.

"Well due to unforeseen circumstances, your requests have all been streamlined. You are all now Jounin-sensei with your Genin squads having been selected."

All the shinobi in the room went wide eyed. This was practically unheard of in the ranks of the Leaf. Academy children graduated early all the time, but usually there was more of a process than this. Even during times of crisis such as war.

"What is this about, Lord Third?" Kakashi asked.

"Something huge has come up." Hiruzen said, not sure how to broach the subject.

"Something to do with the explosion at the Academy two days ago?" Asuma asked.

"Yes. There is no easy way to explain this, so I will just come out with it. The day after yesterday, twelve shinobi came to our village. Eleven of them are here to help us when one of them is our enemy. One of the eleven is unaccounted for, but the other ten have requested all of you to assist them in bringing the twelfth one to justice." Hiruzen said before pausing for dramatic effect. "The twelve shinobi are all time travelers from the future, and they have requested all of you to take up the mantle as their Jounin-sensei of their Genin Squads."

All four shinobi stood in front of their Hokage dumbfounded. Whatever explanation they were expecting, it wasn't that.

"Wait…" Gai cried, his voice sounding like he had been drinking gravel. "Does that mean that Lee and Tenten…?" He coughed. "Are time travelers?"

"You know about this, Gai?" Kurenai asked.

"On the day in question…during training…" Gai wheezed. "Lee and Tenten began to act strangely… As soon as Lee completed his spar with Neji, he and Tenten ran off to discuss something… Then when the explosion happened, they rushed towards it and then took off to search for Sasuke Uchiha…"

"The Uchiha boy? What does he have to do with this?" Asuma asked.

"He is the twelfth time traveler. The one that the ten others I have met claim is an evil rouge ninja bent on the destruction of the entire Ninja System." Hiruzen asked.

"That's preposterous. He's not even a Genin yet, how could he be evil?" Kurenai asked.

"I would think the same thing had I not discovered him standing over the body of an ANBU agent he had murdered…" Gai wheezed. "The ninja wire was still in his hands and fresh with blood."

"If all of this is true, then let me and my hounds track him down." Kakashi said. "The four of us together should be more than a formidable enough team to recapture the Uchiha."

"I have already dispatched several ANBU tracking teams and one Inuzuka team to hunt Sasuke and Kabuto down, but the children have expressed doubts that this will be enough." Hiruzen said.

"Children? I thought they were time travelers." Asuma spoke up.

"It appears that they have retained their consciousness from their future selves from ten years in the future, but their bodies remain that of twelve-year-olds." Hiruzen said. "They claim to remember how to perform all of their jutsus they have mastered over the years, but their bodies lack the physical training necessary to perform said jutsus. They believe that your assistance will help them achieve their future levels quicker than if they were left to their own devices." Hiruzen then took a bite of the tip of his pipe.

"Personally, I think they just miss you four as their Sensei."

"So, what would we be? Babysitters?" Kakashi asked, having never fully warmed up to the idea of being a Jounin-sensei in the first place.

"From what I understand, you would be equals. They claim that they were all Jounin before they made the jump back in time. For now, you are to help train them as best you can. Should you go on missions together, you would be equals. Although it would not surprise me if they valued your experience over theirs."

"Experience? I'm not even a Jounin yet. How am I supposed to lead other kids claiming that they are Jounin?" Kurenai asked.

"They all trusted me to share this information with you. It seems they trust you four without question. Therefore, you must trust in yourself, and you will not fail them." Hiruzen wisely stated. He stood up and placed his Hokage hat atop his head. "Come, they are waiting for us down in the training fields. I'm sure they will be eager to meet you."

The Jounin and Chunin followed their Hokage and Sannin outside through the streets of the village that was in full swing to start the new day. Despite the explosion at the school a few days ago, classes were resuming outside as instructors focused on physical and combat training. Kurenai smiled at Academy students running past them, stopping only to bow at their Hokage before rushing off to buy a sweet roll from the baker before heading to class. The rest of the shop owners smiled and bowed in between their sweeping of their front stoops for the morning's customers. Overhead, Genin teams leapt from rooftop to rooftop to start their days of training or get a head start on their missions. The four Hokage faces smiled down upon the village.

Kakashi's eye caught a glimpse of one Hokage in particular. His master. Which made his mind wander to another spiky haired blond, and how much he knew about his connection between the two, on account of him being from the future.

The group made their way to the edge of the village where the buildings met the trees. Past that, far from the prying eyes of the civilians could be found the many training grounds dotting the perimeter of the village, still contained within the walls. The Jounin could all hear the familiar sounds of training before they ever saw them.

Finally breaking through the trees and seeing them for the first time, they could be forgiven for thinking that they all looked like regular Academy students. But that was only to the eyes of a civilian. To a team of Jounin, the moves these young ninjas were using were refined to the level of Jounin.

Lee spared with Tenten, Shino with Shikamaru, Choji with Ino, Kiba with Hinata, and Naruto spared with Sakura. They exchanged jabs, blocks, counters, kicks, and over the shoulder throws that Naruto had to twist his in weird ways to avoid being slammed onto his back. Naruto was stuck off balance one his feet with his belly hanging in the air, Sakura sent two kicks to both of his unprotected sides. Naruto flashed through his signature hand sign. Two Shadow Clones ran out of two puffs of smoke to harass Sakura. Now the firecracker medic of the Leaf was on the defense, forced to split her blocks in-between two Naruto's that had regained the momentum. Sakura crouched to keep her profile small. She wasn't out of the fight just yet. When one clone got too greedy, Sakura kicked low, hitting Naruto's clone in the ankle that would have crippled a real opponent, but just made the clone explode into smoke. Sakura winced, she had tried to focus some chakra into her leg and overdid the ratio, turning her leg into a glass cannon and spraining her own ankle. The real Naruto leapt at Sakura and sent a flurry of punches at her from above while his clone attacked her from below. Sakura had no choice but to block and be knocked back a dozen feet.

Naruto stopped his assault while the rest of the group continued their spars. Sakura grimaced as she rubbed her sore butt. Naruto just smirked and offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted.

"That was better than last time." Naruto said.

"Only because I took longer to try and use my chakra enhancement." Sakura said, annoyed at herself. "I hate my young body. My muscles are stiff and weak, I feel like I've been in a coma for a month."

"Have you been in a coma for a month?" Naruto asked, being unable to recall many time whenever Sakura let herself be the injured one, that was his job.

"A couple of years ago. You were on a mission with Team 8." Sakura said as she got to work trying to heal her ankle with the barest bones Mystic Palm Technique that her chakra levels could allow.

"Why didn't I know about this?" Naruto asked, concerned.

"I didn't want you to worry. Don't give me that look, Naruto, you would have."

"Of course, I would have." Naruto said sadly.

"It was embarrassing. This one garbage rouge ninja got the drop on me and Kakashi-sensei had to carry me back to the Leaf." Sakura said as she bitterly remembered that scums laugh as he stood over her, thinking he was victorious.

"Speaking of which." Naruto said, pointing behind her. Sakura thought he was talking about the enemy ninja, then she actually turned around and saw all of their Jounin-sensei standing and watching the ten of them spar. They all looked fairly impressed, even Kakashi-sensei, who looked just as young as when Sakura first met him a half a year from now.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed in bittersweet joy. Her voice carried across the training field, alerting all the young ninjas to their seniors. Almost immediately they ceased their battles to stare at their audience. It was breath-taking, seeing their mentors again. Younger, whole, and alive. Like looking at a pane of glass housing a video of their mentors in their prime, except the longer they looked the more they realized that there was no glass, this was no Genjutsu, this was real.

Asuma and Kurenai looked at the group of kids, none of them officially old enough to be Genin, yet there was an air about them that made them seem older. Maybe it was the way they walked? Or the looks they were giving them. They were more mature than your typical Academy student, but there was also a childlike longing in them. Like sons and daughters who were finally meeting their parents after so long.

Nobody prompted it, the four Jounin just naturally stepped forward and the students paired up into groups of three and two to approach them. Kakashi found himself standing in front of Naruto and the pink haired girl he had been sparring with. Both of them, he noticed, kept glancing down at his chest for the briefest moments.

"I'm here too." Jiraiya said, drawing attention to himself. Sakura just looked over at Naruto, only guessing what he could be thinking.

"Hey, Pervy Sage." Naruto smiled.

"Pervy Sage? Is that what you called me?" Jiraiya chuckled.

"Yeah…" Naruto said as he stepped forward uncontrollably. He immediately wrapped up the Toad Sannin in a bear hug. Jiraiya could only look surprised.

"I really missed you, godfather." Naruto said, making Jiraiya and Kakashi look at each other in astonishment.

Gai found himself standing in front of his Genin Lee and Tenten. They looked the same as they always did, yet Gai couldn't help but feel like he was meeting them for the first time. Lee was smiling and Tenten was looking uncharacteristically bashful.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried out of the blue. Gai didn't question it, he hugged his favorite pupil.

"Lee!" He cried, his voice still hoarse.

Asuma looked at the three children standing before of him. By the looks of them they were the classic Nara-Akimichi-Yamanaka trio that always made for good capture-and-reconnaissance teams. Although, judging by their looks, Asuma figured that they might be THE Nara-Akimichi-Yamanaka trio, the leading dark-haired boy had a remarkable resemblance to Shikaku Nara, the head of the Nara clan, Head Jounin of the village, and chief strategist.

' _I'm training his son. Or… I did?'_ Asuma thought, accidently blowing cigarette smoke into their faces. He didn't even realize that he was smoking. The kids all closed their eyes as soon as the smoke hit them, making their tears well up.

"Whoops, sorry about that." Asuma said as he tried to put out his smoke to try and be considerate.

"No, you're fine." The Nara boy said, waving the smoke out of his face.

"No seriously, you're crying." Asuma said, fearing that he was going to get an earful from Kurenai for this later.

"It's not the smoke, Asuma-sensei." The blond-haired girl said softly.

Asuma's eyes went wide. "Oh."

"It's good to see you, sensei." The larger boy smiled.

Kurenai also didn't know what to make of her three "students." They looked to be an Inuzuka judging by his cheek tattoos and white ninja puppy, a Hyuga from the main branch judging by her unmarked forehead, and an Aburame judging by his choice of clothing. This was certainly an odd combo, but Kurenai could imagine that they would make a capable tracking team. Which made her wonder why she, a Genjutsu expert, would ever be chosen as their Jounin-sensei. Surely Kakashi and his summoning dogs would make a better fit, especially with the Inuzuka boy.

"Um, hello." Kurenai said, unsure of what else to say.

None of them said anything, instead they rushed Kurenai and wrapped her in the last thing she was expecting, a group hug.

"Um…" Kurenai muttered as she felt something wet run down her front where the Hyuga girl had her face pressed to her belly. The two boys had her sides pinned, ensuring that the Chunin wasn't going anywhere without prying them off. She didn't know what else to do besides pat them all on the head, two at a time.

"Um, what is it?" Kurenai asked, wondering what had happened between the four of them to make the three of them act this way. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino all looked away from Kurenai as they remembered the same thing.

* * *

It was the day of the invasion and Sasuke's Army had been spotted by the watchers on the wall.

Naruto was still recovering from his last battle with Sasuke which had left them both incapacitated, yet Sasuke's army still managed to smash through the defensive lines surrounding the Leaf. In less than an hour they would be at the gates. The civilians who had lost faith in the Shinobi Alliance had already fled. Now all that remained were the remnants of the Alliance army and their civilian loved ones.

The city sirens echoed throughout the panicked city streets like the wail of the spirit of death.

Down in the streets, near downtown, Team 8 had finished double checking their sensei's home for any more valuables to seal away inside her traveling scrolls. All was accounted for, including Mirai's mountain of stuffed animals. Now all that was left was to say good-bye.

Kurenai smiled at her three students; once cocky, arrogant, or unconfident, now three talented Jounin stood before her. She couldn't be any more proud of them. In her eyes, they were her children just as much as Mirai. She loved them all equally.

"Take care of yourselves and each other." Kurenai begged.

"We will sensei." Kiba gave her a thumbs-up while Hinata and even Shino gave her reassuring smiles.

"Big bros, big sis, don't go." Mirai begged. Hinata knelt down next to the girl she and her teammates had babysat so many times before.

"It's okay, Mirai-chan. Just stay with your mother. Be brave for her." Hinata spoke to Mirai like the big sister she never got to be with her actually younger sister Hanabi. Mirai ran forward and wrapped her arms around Hinata, who returned the hug with gusto.

"Don't worry, squirt." Kiba spoke up. "We'll defeat these invading bas…bass fish and you'll be back in class before you know it."

Mirai looked over Hinata's shoulder at her surrogate older brother Kiba.

"Can we go see the Inuzuka puppies again?" Her eyes lit up.

"Of course." Kiba smiled, knowing that the ninja dogs too young for combat had all been relocated to a far-off forest in case the Leaf fell. That way, the Inuzuka clan would live on.

"And we can go bug hunting." Shino added.

"Really?" Mirai asked, bug hunting being her second favorite thing to do.

"Yes, of course." Shino smiled behind his jacket's high collar.

"And we can even finish off the day with cinnamon rolls." Hinata promised, making Mirai nearly wet herself in excitement. This was starting to sound like the best day ever.

"You'd all better keep your promise!" Mirai exclaimed. The three Jounin just smiled at their hyperactive ball of sunshine.

"We promise." Kiba said as he and his team knelt down to pinky swear it with Mirai.

With that settled, Mirai turned to her mother, who's gaze still lingered on her three students.

"I am so proud of all three of you." Kurenai said.

"Go, Sensei." Kiba insisted, not wanting to be pushy. But the sooner the two of them got inside the bunker, the sooner the three of them could breathe a little easier. Kurenai took her daughter's hand and joined the sea of people swarming into the bunkers inside the Hokage mountain.

Team 8 headed back towards the city gates and made it half way before the sky shattered. Their heads snapped back to see the aftermath of the Hokage mountains having been blown up. The third, fourth, and fifth Hokage heads vanishing behind a cloud of dust so thick not even Hinata's Byakugan could penetrate it, and Kakashi's head had been blown in half, the rest crumbing away.

* * *

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata blinked. They were back in the past, standing before their younger master, whom they had failed to protect. Kiba had to shake his head to stop himself from seeing Mirai standing behind Kurenai-sensei's legs. Hinata gripped her fist, the guilt weighing the heaviest on her shoulders.

"Um… Are you three, okay?" Kurenai asked, weirded out by the fact that they all stared at her with tears dripping down their cheeks. The three of them all blinked and wiped their tears away.

"Yeah, we're fine, Sensei." Kiba answered.

"Okay, that's enough reuniting for now." Shikamaru said as he wiped his eyes. "We've got work to do."

Everyone reluctantly broke away from students and Jounin-sensei, each of them feeling like they had just reunited with old friends they had forgotten about.

"We already have our first mission decided." Shikamaru said. "Team 7 and Lord Jiraiya are going out into the Leaf to hunt down and bring back Lady Tsunade Senju, the Slug Sannin."

The Jounin-sensei all looked at one another.

"Lady Tsunade has been a rogue ninja for twenty years." Kurenai said. "No one knows where she is."

"Me and Pervy Sage found her in Tanzuka last time around." Naruto said. "We had to fight Orochimaru, but he was looking for her to fix his arms last time. He won't be looking for her right now."

"And when exactly did you find her?" Kakashi asked.

"Over a year from now after the Sand and Sound invasion. Orochimaru had killed the Third Hokage at the cost of both his arms. You and Sasuke had also been put into a Genjutsu coma by Itachi, so we needed her to wake you up."

"Lady Tsunade also healed my back after the Chunin Exam preliminaries." Lee said as Tenten rubbed his back out of sympathy. She remembered all too well how defeated he looked after his fight against Gaara. The Flames of Youth their sensei always talked about looked extinguished for a time.

"And you were also bringing her back to serve as the Fifth Hokage." Sakura added.

Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Princess Tsunade? THE Princess Tsunade? Geez, no wonder the village fell."

All the time travelers shot daggers with their eyes at Asuma, even his students that had embraced him like a long-lost father.

"She had her faults…" Naruto defended.

"Many faults." Sakura interjected.

"…but she led the Leaf as good as any Hokage that came before her. She led us through the 4th War. She led the Medical Division of the Shinobi Alliance during the 5th War, while taking the time to train me to be the 7th Hokage. Right up until her death treating the sick on the front lines." Naruto stated with pride.

"I see…" Asuma sighed, now humbled. "My apologizes."

"She is also the Sannin who trained me." Sakura said. "She taught me everything I know about being a medic and I was the best damn medical ninja in the world before we went back in time. If she can train me again then I will be better than I ever was before, and the Leaf's medical division will get the kick in the ass it needs a year earlier. Nothing but good can come from that."

"That sounds like a Youthful idea, but what will the rest of us be doing in the meantime?" Gai asked.

"Training." Shikamaru answered. "And trying to make contact with our eleventh comrade Sai. He was a Root agent, now he's most likely back under Danzo's clutches." He said gravely. "Sai is good at keeping secrets, but I'm not about to leave him hung out to dry for longer than we need to."

"Here, here." Naruto said.

With that, the young ninjas said their goodbyes to Naruto and Sakura while their Sensei counterparts joined them in training. Team 7 along with Jiraiya then headed out to pack up their things for a long-term journey.

Naruto and Sakura were the first to reach the main gates of the Leaf village. The five-story tall seal enchanted gates looked impenetrable from the eyes of a Genin looking up at them, but the two Jounin knew just how much of a misconception that was. As kids, they would look at the walls surrounding them and feel safe from all harm. Now those walls could have been made of paper for all the sense of security they gave the two of them.

"So, Sakura-chan. What do you think of our chances?" Naruto asked.

"Of finding Lady Tsunade or stopping Sasuke?"

"Saving the future." Naruto clarified.

"I'm confident as long as we've got you."

"You've really got that much faith in me?"

"I've learned not to underestimate you. It tends to make me eat my words."

Naruto smirked. "Right back at you." He said just as Kakashi and Jiraiya arrived to meet them.

"Any ideas on where to look for her?" Kakashi asked as soon as they got underway at the main gates.

"I'll have to recheck with my spy contacts, but last I heard, she wasn't in any foreign land, which means she is still in the Land of Fire."

"The largest country on Earth." Sakura said.

"No one ever said it would be easy." Naruto counseled.

"But maybe it doesn't have to be hard." Kakashi said as he pulled out a scroll containing a map of the Land of Fire with all its villages and towns. "Where did you say we found Tsunade in your timeline?"

Naruto stepped forward and studied the map for a hot second. "Tanzuka, right here." He jabbed his finger on the west side of the country. "About a year and a half from now, she'll be there."

"So we know that she won't be there now." Jiraiya said as he took out a colored ink brush and made a large circle around Tanzuka. "That leaves us with the eastern providence of Fire."

"And Lady Tsunade would not go far without several stops to gamble and drink along the way." Sakura added.

"So which villages are the party towns?" Naruto asked.

Wordlessly, Jiraiya took his brush and highlighted over a dozen cities without even batting an eye.

"Seventeen…" Kakashi said. "A good place to start, at least."

"So long as we check out the other party villages along the way." Naruto added.

"Good thinking, kid." Jiraiya said as he highlighted a few more villages leading to the east providence.

"This sounds like a good plan." Sakura said.

"So let's get to it." Kakashi finished as he rolled up the scroll.

* * *

Meanwhile, at an unknown underground hideout. A boy with skin as white as a ghost gasped a sharp breath as he was dosed with icy cold water. His 13-year-old body thrashed about, only to rediscover that he was bound upside down with his hands tied behind his back. A meat hook hung from the ceiling, holding the boy an inch from the concrete ground. He opened his one un-swollen eye to a completely black room save for the one beam of light illuminating the spot where he hung. He blew out more water from entering his nose. A metal bucket hit the ground and a man in a white ANBU mask stepped out from the shadows and into the light. The eye holes of his mask looking like pits to the boy who never thought he would see them again in his life.

"Are you ready to talk now, boy?" The black ops agent asked, his voice like roots creeping into the boy's ears and wrapping his brain in tendrils.

The boy did not answer, as he knew it would only be perceived as weakness. He would not break, nor bend, for soon he knew that his friends would rescue him. Sure as his name was Sai.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I gotta confess, one major block I had to publishing was whether or not I should include/cut a few scenes. The biggest one had to be the Konoha 10 waking up to begin their day. They would stretch, hang out, have someone grab breakfast, and then plan their first mission. Also, I would have had the girls talking in the showers, nothing descriptive, but it did make me think I was oversexualizing them, since I would never bother to write about the guys taking a shower. I digress. Of course, then I rewrote it to include Shikamaru's perspective as he wakes up early to plan their next move and feels bad about Temari dying. But I could not bring myself to write him being consoled by Choji. And frankly, he doesn't have a part to play in the Tsunade Retrieval Arc to come, so by that point I realized I hadn't updated in two months and just had to bite the bullet and publish what I had. Hardest thing for a writer/artist to do. Tell me what you think so that I can feel like I made the right call. Or tell me how I can make it better.**


	7. Chapter 7: Memories In Meichong

**Author's Note: I don't even want to look at how many months its been since I last updated. Nevermind that this is my last year of college. There were other blocks. Like what this chapter should be about. Since we are entering a timeskip because I didn't want to just jump right ahead to Team 7 suddenly being in the same village where Tsunade is. Plot lines ranged from Naruto and Sakura talking to Kakashi and Jiraiya about their timeline in full, to Naruto and Sakura in a bar fight after they find an informat, to Sasuke somehow still being in the Land of Fire a month later (which didn't seem realistic to me). So I settled on this storyline, I hope you will enjoy it. If not, rant at me via review about how that bar fight would have been much cooler to see. Until then, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Memories in Meichong

"Cha!" Sakura shouted as she slammed her one-inch punch into the nearby boulder. The force from her concentrated chakra split the rock clean down the middle, leaving Sakura with a wicked sore hand.

"Damn this body. It didn't used to hurt this much." Sakura cursed, shaking the pain out of her fingers. Her self-conversation was interrupted by the chorus of a dozen Naruto's screaming before exploding into smoke. Sakura didn't have to look behind herself to know that of the one hundred Naruto clones practicing the one handed Rasengan in each hand, another one had exploded and several others were caught in the blast radius. Sakura sighed and reached for one of her homemade Chakra Pills before stopping herself. The medical side of her brain reminding her that she had already used two that day. Any more and she wouldn't be in fighting shape should they be attacked. Try as she and Naruto might, the road to their old strength was a long one, no matter what they did to shorten it.

While the two of them were training in the field, underneath the shade of a nearby tree, Kakashi and Jiraiya were pouring over their worn-out map.

"This isn't good." Kakashi said.

"If I had to pick one gambling town I wouldn't want Princess Tsunade to be in, it would be that one." Jiraiya said grimly.

"She still might not be, we could very well find out that she moved on." Kakashi suggested.

"We can only hope." Jiraiya said before he let loose an ear ringing whistle over the field. "Oy, kids, team meeting!"

Grateful for the break, Sakura dropped her combat stance and Naruto undid all of his remaining Shadow Clones. Before the smoke could even dissipate, the two Academy aged kids had leapt over to their elders and were kneeling like experienced Jounin ready for a briefing. No matter how many times Jiraiya saw it, they never failed to amuse him. Even a month later he still caught himself thinking that they were regular Genin before their body language tricked him into thinking he was teamed up with S-classed Jounin.

"So where to next?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya smoothed out the map and the two Time Travelers could see red ink arrows point out from every village, town, and roadside stall they had stopped to question. Each arrow led to the next spot of civilization on the map until finally converging on one spot where Jiraiya held his finger.

"Meichong. The Village of Vice." Jiraiya said ominously. Naruto and Sakura merely raised their eyebrows in equal confusion.

"Never heard of it." Sakura said.

"Not surprising." Kakashi said. "It is an infamous village officially known for its casinos and strip clubs making it the number one party town in the Eastern Providence of the Land of Fire. What isn't well known is that the town is completely run by the Cola Gang."

"Again, never heard of them." Sakura said.

"Also, Cola Gang. What? Was the Soda Gang taken?" Naruto snickered.

"Laugh at their name for now. Once you have dealt with them you won't be laughing anymore. The Cola Gang is ruthless when they don't get their way. It's part of the reason we allow them to bribe our local garrison. Back when the Uchiha were running our police force, the Cola Gang waged a guerrilla war against squads of Uchiha Jounin and ANBU supporting them. The Third Hokage had to recall the police force back to the Leaf and let the Cola Gang take over Meichong to stop the violence."

That got Naruto and Sakura's attention. Anybody who could disgrace the Uchiha clan was not a group to be trifled with.

"So the plan is that when we get to Meichong, we play things close to the chest. No running off on your own. No starting fights in the street. We pick up whatever information we can get and fly the coop." Jiraiya said.

"You say that as if we haven't been perfectly stealthy ninjas the entire month we've been searching." Sakura pointed out.

"You mean besides that one incident in that fishing village?" Kakashi asked innocently.

"That punk had it coming." Sakura defended.

"Well this time its dead serious. The Cola Gang has eyes everywhere in Meichong. I don't want to take any chances."

"I don't like it. If we came back in time to make the world a better place, why don't we just take these guys out and save everyone the trouble?" Naruto suggested. "All of us together should be more than powerful enough to do it."

"Use your brain, brat. This isn't about us beating them, this is about picking our battles."

"I haven't had to pick my battles since I was 16." Naruto said, making Jiraiya sigh.

"Did he get even dumber in your future?" Jiraiya asked Sakura.

"No, believe it or not, he actually got smarter." Sakura said in a moot tone.

"Hey! Wait, was that an insult?" Naruto wondered to himself.

"Moving on, I'm the only official Sannin on the team and I'm pulling rank. We do this by the ninja scroll, not the samurai manual. Stealthy." Jiraiya declared.

"Fine." Naruto relented. Sakura and Kakashi both gave quick nods.

"Good, let's pack up and hit the road. If we make good time, we should arrive just in time for happy hour." Jiraiya smirked, leaving his three underlings to groan.

In no time at all, they were packed and walking down the dirt road. Just two infamous Leaf ninjas and two unknown Genin chatting away.

"It's so damn frustrating, I've got my right arm within tolerable levels, but my left arm, no matter how much I practice my chakra nodes keep hurting whenever I try any jutsu more powerful than the Rasengan." Naruto vented. His arms held up his head as he and Sakura walked side by side down the road.

"I know what you mean. Whenever I use my chakra enhanced strength, I still feel like I'm punching a rock with my normal strength. It's been a month and I still can't get used to this handicap. It's like I'm drugged."

"Same. I keep waking up expecting to be tall again and it never happens."

Sakura cracked a smile. "True, although, I'm fine with my current height." She said, looking down on her partner.

"Oh you enjoy your three inches for now. Once I hit puberty I will be laughing at you from above." Naruto countered.

"Sure. And I'll be sure to use you to block the wind for me." Sakura smiled.

The two of them laughed like old war buddies, taking jabs at each other. It made the Veteran Jounin Kakashi smile underneath his mask. These two who were to be his future Genin students. They were such spitting images of Obito and Rin, his best friends. It was almost too perfect. They got along so well, yet there was an unspoken distance between them. A wall keeping them always at arm's length apart. And the more he observed them the more he notices subtle glances one gave the other when they were certain the other wasn't looking. It was comical.

Hours later, Team 7 arrived at the outskirts of the city. Right off the bat Naruto and Sakura could tell this was a party city. The sun was setting and the lights were already on. In place of street lamps the streets were illuminated by hangings lanterns with different bright colors for each row. Some red, some orange, yellow, you get the idea. The various shops and stores were painted bright colors as well. Giving the entire place a feel like there was a festival going on that never stopped. In the streets, the people reflected that mood. Men and women huddled together in groups of two or three, serving as each other's drunken kickstand. Men chased after young girls, some willingly and a few that the rest of the team had to restrain Sakura from going after. "This isn't the battle we came here to fight." Jiraiya reasoned with her. Sakura didn't like it, neither did Naruto, but they knew he was right. Instead they tired to focus on other aspects of the crowd. Like the very rampant and open display of drug use. Or the men being beaten up for gambling debts. Yeah, this was Lady Tsunade's kind of town alright.

"We'll split up." Jiraiya declared. "Each of us can gather information in the quarter of the city each and meet back here by midnight. Naruto, you take the gambling district. Kakashi takes the restaurant district. Sakura takes the hotels. And I will handle the red-light district."

"Oh Hell no, Pervy Sage. I'm not letting you waste all your time sleeping with hookers." Naruto snapped.

"What? You said I used to do this all the time when I trained you."

"Yeah, and I'm not gonna let it happen again." Naruto said. "We'll go in teams of two. I'll keep an eye on Pervy Sage. Sakura, you and Kakashi-sensei stick together as well."

"Sounds good." Sakura nodded.

"Fine, just don't cramp my style." Jiraiya said as he led the two of them down the street, leaving Sakura alone with Kakashi.

"So…" Kakashi said.

"So?" Sakura replied.

"How long have you been pining after Naruto?" He asked, making Sakura trip on the flat dirt road.

"What a clumsy girl." One bar fly commented from his alleyway.

"I am not! Naruto isn't!" Sakura sputtered.

"Come on, Sakura. I think I deserve a little more credit than that." Kakashi said.

"How did you know?"

"You made it fairly obvious with all your stolen glances at the boy over the course of the month we've been traveling together. Especially whenever he bends down or takes his shirt off." Kakashi said, making Sakura's cheeks imitate her shirts.

"And you haven't told him?" She asked, dreading the very worst.

"Its not my place. However, I am curious. Word through the grave vine is that the Naruto from my timeline had a massive crush on you. Or so Iruka observed."

"That's all in the past, I'm afraid. My Naruto has been dating Hinata for years, right after the 5th War started in fact." Sakura sulked.

"But you want to date him now. How did that happen?"

"Well…" Sakura said as her thoughts drifted back.

 _It was a month after the first attacks. The mysterious force of ninjas who had been attacking border villages simultaneously had been identified as an army of united second tier ninja villages. The Chunin team sent to investigate had also made one other crucial discovery; the leader._

 _Unfortunately, fate dictated that the team had to be Team 7._

 _It was a nostalgic scene for this formation of Team 7. Naruto and Sakura decked out in their Chunin and Jounin ninja vests respectively, standing in the center of the team while Captain Yamato stood on Sakura's right and Sai stood at Naruto's left. All four of them stood around the bonfire that used to be a peaceful little farming village located a day's walk from the Land of Fire border. Houses and huts were set ablaze by the invading ninja army. The locals had all fled into the mountains after Team 7 managed to warn them. Shikamaru's hunch was right and they managed to pick the next tiny village to be attacked. They had met the army in battle, thanks in no small part to Naruto, and managed to goad the enemy leader into coming to face them himself. Imagine their surprise to see their old teammate and recently reformed friend appearing atop the roof of the main village hut. His glowing red eye and light purple eye piercing the smoke and ash. His own four-man team standing beside him, looking down upon the dumbstruck faces of the last two people to defend him._

" _Sasuke…" Naruto said, his fist tightening and his breath hangered._

" _Dobe." Sasuke replied casually, as if he hadn't turned over a new leaf after their battle with Kaguya. "This reunion is much sooner than I had planned, but I can't have you spoiling my army's reputation this early in its grand debut. So, I guess we'll have to do this now." He said as he gripped his sword handle with his newly attached left arm._

 _Sakura was speechless. This was so wrong. It shouldn't be happening. Sasuke had changed. Naruto had said so. Sakura had seen it in his eyes. His heart wasn't poisoned with hatred anymore. He was on a journey for redemption and everything. Why was he here? Why was he admitting to leading this ragtag bunch of murderers? Didn't he understand how bad this looked? Why was he egging on Naruto?_

" _Why?" Sakura asked. Sasuke's eyes turned to her. Those same hate filled eyes that she saw back before Sasuke had turned good._

" _I saw that the little guy needed a hero too, and they couldn't look up to you, Naruto." Sasuke said, not even looking at Sakura's direction._

" _What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded as Sakura began to boil._

" _That in your quest for peace, you overlooked the little guy. As all great men tend to due. True peace cannot exist with such unbalanced powers. Only by wiping the slate clean can true peace be possible."_

" _That's nonsense and you know it!" Naruto exclaimed as Sakura continued to boil._

" _Yes, yes, its love, unity, and honesty that keeps the peace among the world. Grow up, Naruto. You may have tricked me into believing in your methods, but my eyes are open now."_

" _Tricked you?" Naruto snarled as Sai and Yamato bent their knees. Juugo and Suigetus also prepared themselves for a fight. Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her thoughts turned to all the good memories with Sasuke. His small smiles, the times he saved her, his compliment of her forehead, the time he poked her forehead, all the times he left her, the times she saw Naruto lying injured in bed after fighting Sasuke, and now this. Her blood boiled. After everything she and Naruto had been though, all their friends had been through. All the pain and all the forgiveness. Yet it still wasn't enough. Sakura sent chakra bursting through her legs, shooting her at Sasuke like a cannon ball._

" _Why, why, WHY!? WHY IS IT ALWAYS, ALWAYS YOU!" She screamed with her fist cocked back like a loaded artillery cannon. Sasuke didn't even flinch as he raised up his Susanoo to block Sakura's punch, but he did when that same punch pushed him back two feet. Through the veil of purple chakra, Sakura met Sasuke's eyes. The look on Sakura's face was one of such rage and betrayal you would think that she was born the reincarnation of the Kyuubi. Tears rolled down her cheek as Sasuke looked at her the same way he would look at a rather annoying door that refused to open and let him proceed on his path. Sakura was so caught up in trying to spot a reaction in Sasuke's eyes that she failed to notice when the red haired Kunoichi launched her chakra chains at the pink medic. The next thing Sakura knew, she was grabbed from behind and twirled around. She gasped and took in the scent of ramen and trees, letting her know that Naruto had tackled her in midair, knocking her out of the way of the chakra chains. A quick glance assured Sakura that Naruto was also unharmed. As he finished rolling Sakura out of the way, he had come out of the twirl slashing with his Rasenshuriken, slicing the chakra chains in two. He then kicked off of Sasuke's Susanoo right as the big guy, Juugo, fired his chakra cannons at the spot where Naruto and Sakura once were._

 _Upon landing back where they once stood, Naruto increased the size of his Rasenshuriken and held it in front of the both of them like a shield. Just in time for more chakra cannon balls to exploded off of them and for Sasuke to set Naruto's jutsu on fire using the black flames of Amaterasu. By then, Yamato and Sai had already sprung into action. Sai summoning his ink bird to take to the skies while Captain Yamato made a wooden cocoon to defend himself and sent several other wooden pillars to attack Team Taka._

" _Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted to get her attention as the battle broke out. But Sakura wouldn't respond. Her mind was racing._

" _Sakura-chan!" Naruto repeated as he slapped her back, successfully grabbing her attention. "I need you with me!" Sakura's eyes immediately met his. "We need our medic ready to fight!" He said, snapping her out of her stupor._

" _Die!" Suigetsu shouted as he appeared behind their Rasenshuriken cover, brandishing Zabuza's blade up high. He brought it down intending to cleave them both in two. Instead he found his attack halted by Sakura pinching it between her fingers. The metal cracked under the strain._

" _Alright, I'm with you!" Sakura shouted before yanking the blade out of Seigetsu's arms and punching him into a spray of water. She and Naruto then charged at Sasuke and Karin while Sai and Yamato attacked a Curse Seal Transformed Juugo._

 _The battle was long and arduous, but ended once Team 7's reinforcements arrived en masse. Sasuke and his fellows were forced to flee without either side inflicting major damage to the other team._

 _As Sai and Yamato went to give their report on the battle, Naruto and Sakura sat alone together as they discussed who amongst them needed to be healed first._

 _After some arguing, Naruto agreed to kneel quietly while Sakura got to work healing him with her Mystic Palm Technique. He had received the most injuries, but still insisted on Sakura healing herself before him. For several minutes, neither one of them said a word. They both just silently looked upon the spot where they last saw Sasuke before he vanished once again. Neither one of knew what to say. All their hard work from a year ago had been for naught. Sasuke still chose to walk the evil path and wanted to destroy the ninja system, their way of life, the one they both sought to build upon to create a better world._

 _Sakura had just finished healing the lightning chakra burns on Naruto's back when he spoke up. "Sakura-chan…" He said, his voice tried but determined. Sakura looked up from her work to listen to him properly. "No matter what, I will still bring Sasuke back to us. Promise of a—"_

" _Don't." Sakura cut him off, his words feeling like a blade tugging at her heartstrings. She couldn't stand the thought of Naruto repeating that stupid promise made to a weak and needy fangirl ever again. She wouldn't have it. Not when Naruto was the man he was, the man who would become Hokage and lead this world to peace. It wasn't even what Sakura believed, its what she knew, as sure as the sun would rise in the morning._

" _But Sakura-chan."_

" _No, Naruto, please listen. If we can both save Sasuke again, that's great, but I want you to promise me something. A new Promise of a Lifetime that supersedes all others." Sakura exclaimed._

 _Sakura could tell that Naruto wanted to argue, but one look in her eyes quelled him. "Alright, what is this new promise?"_

" _I want you to promise me that if it comes down either Sasuke or yourself, I want you to choose yourself."_

" _Sakura—"_

" _You are the next Hokage, Naruto. Its not fair to anyone if you throw your life away trying to save someone who keeps tearing down everything we've built." Sakura pleaded._

" _But Sakura, what about you? You love Sasuke. Don't you want him back?"_

 _Sakura gulped. "I want you to come back more." Another silence passed between them. Part of Sakura wanted to know what Naruto was thinking, but the other part of her was surprised at how easily it was for her to say those words; I want you to come back more. It was the truth, sure, but when did it become so easily for Sakura to say? And why did she care right now?_

" _Okay, Sakura-chan. I promise." Naruto said, his words relieving the burden from her shoulders._

"Hmmm…" Kakashi said.

"After that incident, the 5th Shinobi World War began." Sakura continued. "The Five Great Nations and the Samurai were slow to respond. They thought Sasuke had merely gathered together a rag tag band of mercenaries not worth worrying about. All it took was the four of us to drive them back, so they sent us and a few other four-man teams to handle any sightings of the army. For months we didn't see Sasuke or his teammate's again, and the number of attacks only increased. Things got so bad that we had to split Team 7 in two. Sai and Yamato heading to defend one village while me and Naruto went to save another." Sakura blushed at those memories. "We spent so much time together then. Just the two of us. Rushing from one remote part of the Land of Fire to another. Sleeping outdoors most nights and, when we could, sharing motel rooms to save money. I got to see so many more sides of Naruto. Watching him save civilians almost on a daily basis. Him fighting all those ninjas. Always having my back. It became so common place I started thinking, what if we could keep doing this forever?"

"Sounds like the perfect life for two ninjas in love."

Sakura smiled. "I thought so. Apparently, Naruto didn't."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, now more invested than he was with Jiraiya's Make-Out series.

"By the time the other nations finally took the threat seriously, Naruto and I had been traveling together for months. I was actually hoping by the time we got back that he would ask me out on a date." Sakura smiled bitterly. "We returned home safe and sound. He went to his apartment, I went to my parents, and the next morning I had to report to the hospital for the day. By the time I ran into him again… Hinata had corned him and asked him out… And he said…"

" _Yes. I said yes." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head. Sakura just froze in place. They stood together at Ichiraku's Ramen stand. Teuchi and Ayame had retired to the back, leaving the two of them seated in front of their cooling ramen. Naruto with his fifth helping of miso ramen with extra pork and Sakura with her low sodium vegetable ramen. "I couldn't believe it. I mean, THE Hinata Hyuga asked me out."_

" _That is surprising." Sakura's mouth spoke._

" _I know. I mean she is the heiress to the Hyuga's, ya know? Turns out she has had feelings for me for years. Who could have seen that coming?"_

" _Well she did say she loved you back when she saved you from Pain." Sakura said listlessly._

" _Yeah, but I didn't think she was serious. I mean I did, but I guess there was just so much going on back then after Pain that I forgot about it." Naruto said before he stirred his ramen. "Kinda makes me sound like a jerk." He said with a joking smile._

" _Yes, it does." Sakura said as she took a big slurp of noodles, making Naruto deadpan._

" _Sakura…" He whined. But she wouldn't hear him over her noodles._

" _So, you've got a date set with her?"_

" _Yeah. This Friday. I figure we'd go see a movie, get a meal afterwards. Something original like that."_

" _Hmmm…" Sakura said as she thought about all the movie she wanted to see once she and Naruto had gotten back. As friends of course._

" _Is that okay with you?"_

" _Huh? Sakura asked, not sure if she had heard that right._

" _I said, is that okay with you. Me and Hinata going out?"_

" _Why—why wouldn't it be?"_

" _Well you're my teammate. And my friend. My best friend. I just thought… Because its you. I'd check in. To let you know." Naruto said with great care not to upset her._

 _Sakura thought about it for a good long while. Why should she care? Its not like she and Naruto were dating at this point. She hadn't called dibs. Naruto was his own person. And he had rejected her already in the Land of Iron. She should be happy for Naruto and Hinata both. Now Hinata would get to date Naruto like she always wanted. It wasn't like she had spent months on end traveling alone with Naruto. Fighting side by side with him. She hadn't held his heart in her hand. Or watched him sleep. Or watch him save those orphans because he's so bloody perfect. He wasn't hers. He couldn't be._

" _Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, snapping her back to reality with that endearing nickname he had for her. That "chan" honorific that he didn't use on anyone else. Sakura's eyes met his and her mouth acted independently._

" _Of course, its fine, idiot. I think its great that you are finally giving Hinata a chance. Sage knows she has been after you forever." She said with a smile that did not match her eyes._

" _Are you sure? Cause I didn't want it to cut into our team's training time or—"_

" _I said its fine, Naruto. We'll work around it. You just have a great time." Sakura said as she returned her full attention to her ramen._

" _Thanks, Sakura-chan. You're the best." Naruto said._

"Hmmm…" Kakashi said. "Were you just remembering something? You spaced out for quite a while."

"So what do you think I should do? Just forget about Naruto and move on with my life, right?" Sakura sighed.

"Oh I don't know. I'm no expert on love." Kakashi said as he patted his little orange book against his thigh. "But I do like to think I am good at noticing subtle cues."

"Where are you going with this?" Sakura asked.

"I just find it curious that for the entire month that the four of us have been traveling together, not once has Naruto ever brought up having agirlfriend." Kakashi said as he turned to head down the street. "If that were a plot point in one of Lord Jiraiya's books, I would pay close attention to it." He said, leaving Sakura a moment to contemplate that idea in silence.

* * *

"Oh God, please stop!" A man screamed at Boss Kuzukawa, his cries echoing in the underground basement where the two of them plus two of Kuzukawa's bodyguards watched as a group of Cola thugs beat an unconscious woman. Kuzukawa leaned back into the fold out chair provided for him while his bodyguards held the crying man down on his knees, preventing him from flinging himself over the woman's battered body to shield her from any more abuse.

Kuzukawa sighed. This was the least enjoyable part of his job. Micromanaging. God bless his boys, they had passion, but no imagination. "This could all be over if you just paid me your fee, Takiyama. Your wife didn't have to get her pretty face kicked in."

"I swear to you I'll have the money tomorrow! My shop got robbed! I swear!" Takiyama begged.

"I told you to buy a safe after the last time this happened. Remember? When I was lenient on you? But no, you had to spend it on booze, and now your poor wife is paying for your mistakes. What kind of husband are you?"

"Please, I'll do anything! I'll pay you double, no, triple next time!"

"Oh anything, like I've never heard that promise before." Kuzukawa rolled his eyes as Takiyama's wife coughed up blood.

"Please, oh God what do you want?" The shop owner sobbed.

"I want you to remember this evening, Mister Takiyama. Remember it the next time you think I'll be lenient a second time. And have my payment ready to go on the 4th of every month." Kuzukawa stated as he sat up. He could only take so much torture for one evening. He clapped his hands and the thugs all ceased beating on the half dead woman at once. He then snapped his fingers at one of the thugs. "You, take Mister Takiyama and his wife home. Then send the Doctor to keep her from dying. I don't want this one turning into a vigilante for revenge."

The thugs all nodded. One picked up the unconscious woman while another went to fetch the Doctor. The bodyguards took it as their cue to release the shop owner, who scrambled over to his wife to nestle her bleeding head.

"Next month, Takiyama. I expect all the money you owe me." Kuzukawa said before heading over to the elevator where his assistant was waiting for him.

"Tao? Don't tell me I missed that many calls?" Kuzukawa dreaded. Who knew running a city-wide brothel/gambling empire could entail so much busy work.

"Thankfully, no. Only five. All of them good news. With one invite to a wedding. Some business associate with a daughter. Do you wish to attend?" Tao said as he adjusted his glasses and double checked his all-important clipboard. Kuzukawa passed right by him and hit the third-floor button the elevator. Tao hopped in right as the doors were closing and the lift took them both up.

"Do I know this business associate by first name?"

"You wouldn't."

"Then send a card. A top shelf one. Maybe with one of those 3D paper flowers on the front." Kuzukawa said, holding up his hands to imagine the card.

"It will be done." Tao said as he made a quick note. "Now for why I came down to meet you. I wanted to give you an update on the two new girls." He said with only slight disgust.

"Ah, how are they both doing? Still feisty with the customers?"

"The older one is. Her younger companion has accepted her fate and taken on a submissive attitude. The other one continues to be… problematic."

"Didn't she nearly bite that one customer's dick off?"

"Yes, sir."

"Send her to the BDSM floor. Most pervs would pay top dollar to break in a girl who would resist them. That should solve our unsatisfied customer problem."

"Very good sir. I always wanted to pass on a report from the Leaf Ninja Garrison. Two infamous Leaf ninjas with two children came into the village on an unscheduled visit." Tao said as he pulled out three single page reports he had been faxed.

"What?" Kuzukawa snapped. "These ninjas on a family vacation or something?"

"No, sir. The two shinobi were both male. One of them was identified as one of the Sannin, Lord Jiraiya. The other was Jounin Kakashi Hatake, also known as Kakashi of the Sharingan."

Kuzukawa punched the emergency stop button. "Two of the most powerful Shinobi in the known world enter my city and you tell me about them AFTER the wedding invitation from nobody!?"

"Do not worry, sir. I already ordered the Garrison Captain to ascertain the reason for their visit. By the time we return to your office they should have an update for us." Tao said before adjusting his glasses.

The mob boss growled. "Grrr, next time tell me before giving out orders on your own. You are not the boss here, Tao. I am."

"Of course, sir. I meant no disrespect."

"No, you just proved your idiocy. I have Lady Tsunade, the Slug Sannin, in my employ! What else could the TOAD SANNIN be doing here other than trying to find her and free her?"

Tao stepped back with his clipboard raised. "I'm sorry, sir. I should have made the connection."

"You should have remembered your place!" Kuzukawa snapped. "What of the children they were with? They didn't bring Genin with them, did they?"

"It appears so." Tao said as he showed his boss the final profile report of a blond spiky haired kid with whisker marks on his cheeks and deep blue eyes. "While neither one of the children had headbands visible on them, one of them was identified as Naruto Uzumaki. An academy student in his final year, yet he already has a place in the Leaf Shinobi's official Bingo Book."

"Who the Hell is this brat to get his own Bingo Book page?" Kuzukawa asked as he quickly read over the report. Born October 10th, parents unknown, Kekkai Genkai none, 4 feet tall, average grades in school, etc.

"I don't know sir. But there is a standing order attached to his profile that if he should be found outside of the Leaf Village to return him to the Hokage at once."

"What is he, a dog?" Kuzukawa joked. Tao, as always, didn't laugh. "Whatever. He's valuable to the Hokage. That's something to keep in mind. And what about the other brat?"

"No idea, sir. She wasn't in the Leaf's Bingo Book. She had long pink hair and wore a red ninja dress with black leggings. She must be important though to be in such company."

"We'll see. Spread the word through the ranks. Everyone is to stay squeaky clean tonight. With any luck those Garrison ninjas won't tip off the Sannin and they will just leave on their own." Kuzukawa ordered. "And send Tsunade to the basement ASAP. We can't risk her being spotted accidently."

"Yes, sir." Tao bowed as Kuzukawa pressed the restart button on the elevator. Allowing the two men to stand together in silence for the rest of the ride up.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Yeah. I was about to work on this chapter even more. Add in this fight scene, then some sneaking into a place, a little deception. But then I noticed that this chapter was already 12 pages long. Similar to last chapter. So I decided to throw my patient followers a bone and submit this. Its always tricky juggling how long you want a chapter to go. But I didn't want to end it with Kakashi's talk with Sakura. That felt too short and I had spent too much time trying to connect it to the beginning of the chapter. Whatever, I am two weeks from graduating and I'm nervous.**

 **So tell me what you liked about this chapter. What sucked, what was cliché, and what made you nod in approval. I live off of critiques that boost my ego. Better than any cup of coffee in the morning.**

 **Also, tell me what you think of Kuzukawa. Is he oozing cliché? How can I make him a better villain? Does it even matter?**

 **Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed me and my story since my last update. And special thanks to everyone who reviewed.**


	8. Chapter 8: Reconnaissance

Chapter 8: Reconnaissance

Ten whole minutes had passed since Team 7 had split up and already Naruto had to drag Jiraiya away from two titty bars and a strip club. Each time he had tried to argue with his former/future/current pupil that he was only looking for his teammate Lady Tsunade, but Naruto knew better than to believe that Tsunade would ever be caught dead in a strip club. Sakura-chan had told him about the one time that Tsunade did go into one. She was evading some debt collectors and needed a place to hide. Before she could even sit down some guy had stuffed a 50 Ryo bill down her cleavage and now that strip club's owner got free escort missions curtesy of the Leaf whenever he wanted. Or he did… He will? This time travel stuff still gave Naruto a headache. Sakura had told him that it helped if he thought of it like time was a straight pathway. Even though they technically went back in time to reset everything, their pasts didn't change. What they were experiencing now was still their future. They were moving forward on the same path, but the scenery was just very familiar.

Naruto sighed while Jiraiya asked a regular bartender if he had seen a girl with features likes Lady Tsunade's picture. He wished that he had teamed up with Sakura on this one. Let Kakashi deal with Pervy Sage's antics. As much as he missed hanging out with his old mentor, he was already missing his longest standing teammate and best friend. Ever since Sasuke had decided to be evil for good, this hidden wall of awkwardness between Naruto and Sakura had evaporated. Sakura wasn't pining after Sasuke anymore, choosing to protect the Leaf instead. And Naruto was no longer trying to save Sasuke's soul, save for that one time a month earlier. They both were older and wiser now. They had responsibilities and drives to protect the Leaf and the world of Shinobi. But most importantly they had each other. When the 5th War broke out, standard team structures broke down. Individual ninjas were sent where they were needed. Luckily for them, wherever a weak section of the front needed a powerhouse ninja to reinforce it, chances were good that a top-notch medic was also needed. So Naruto and Sakura were both always on the move. Fighting at one battlefield for a day or a week and then moving on to another one in need. They would team up with Sai and Yamato, or Ino and Shikamaru, or Lee and Tenten, or just do missions alone. Frankly, even with all the death and suffering, Naruto would privately think it was the time of his life. Constantly fighting, on the move, making a difference, and among friends. Sufficient to say, he would be much happier right now if he was searching this big old vice town with Sakura. They would have so much more to talk about, even if she would smack him for any perceived acts of perversion on his part.

"Oy, brat." Jiraiya said, tapping Naruto's arm to snap him out of his thoughts. "We are being hollered at."

Naruto looked over to see a 4-man squad of Leaf Shinobi heading towards them. The crowds parted without the ninjas having to say anything. All of them looked like experienced veterans. Made up of Chunin and at least one Jounin. They would have to be if they were assigned to work a Garrison so far away from the Hidden Leaf village. Their leader, leading the pack, looked exactly like a veteran soldier should. Tired eyes, stiff posture, and a J shaped scar running from the left of his eye down his cheek and looping up to his chin. They were all wearing their headbands like bandanas on their heads. Probably the style of their Garrison. And they all wore ninja vests with scroll pockets on the front.

The blond ninja readied himself. If Pervy Sage's intel was correct, these guys were in the pockets of criminals.

"Lord Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin." The Jounin in charge bowed, followed by all his underlings. "I am Commander Chin."

Naruto snorted, but kept quiet. Chin with a chin scar. Okay.

"Welcome to Meichong."

Jiraiya caught a quick glance with Naruto's eyes. _'Can you believe this guy?'_ He thought before raising its hand. "Thank you, although no need to be so formal. The Gallant Jiraiya needs no pomp and ceremony whenever he arrives." The big headed Jiraiya laughed off, making his pupil roll his eyes and a few onlookers raise an eyebrow.

"Of course, sir. My men and I came to inquire what you were doing here. We received no warning of your arrival and you did not check in with our station. Revered as the Sannin are, you are still a Leaf ninja and must follow procedure." Commander chin scar reasoned.

"Well we Sannin were never good at following regulations. I'm just hear for some sightseeing and then I'll be on my way." Jiraiya waved off.

"All the same, I still need you to check in. It would be a huge hassle if you didn't."

"Then I apologize in advanced for trouble I'm going to get you in with your boss." Jiraiya said, raising his voice so that the whole block could hear him.

"Boss? I don't know what you are insinuating." Chin questioned. "I serve only the Hokage by protecting this village."

"Sure, but he isn't the one topping off your paycheck each month to look the other way." Jiraiya said, raising his arms as if proclaiming a major plot twist in the ninja equivalent of Hamlet.

' _Is he doing a thing?'_ Naruto thought.

' _ **A thing?'**_ Kurama deadpanned.

' _A distraction thing.'_

' _ **Probably. Might as well play along.'**_ Kurama thought.

"I beg your pardon?" Chin stated, growing increasingly annoyed.

"Pretty crummy job you've been doing. Getting bought out like that." Naruto spoke up.

"How dare you!" Chin snapped at Naruto, taking his frustrations out on the first person he could find who didn't outrank him. "Just who do you think you are?"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto declared out of habit. "Jou— _**'You're not a Jounin yet.'**_ –Junior ninja in training to Pervy—I mean the Toad Sannin."

"An apprentice to the Sannin? Bah, you need to learn some manners first, brat."

"You had better watch your own manners first, Commander." Jiraiya stepped in. "Otherwise someone might get the wrong impression."

By now the twin rivers of civilians had turned into a crowd of onlookers. The trio of Chunin flanking Commander Chin began to sweat. Crowds were never ideal for law enforcement. Gather enough people together, mix in some rowdiness and alcohol, and the meek little civilians might decide to try their luck against the uppity ninja guards. Plus, this was a Sannin they were talking about.

"Are you drunk?" Chin snapped at Jiraiya, trying to regain control of the situation. "Perhaps a night in the drunk tank with improve both your attitudes. This is Meichong and I will be respected."

"Fine. Have some respect." Jiraiya said as he snapped his fist into Chin's face. The commander fell backwards into his underlings and Jiraiya pulled back his fist, quick as a cobra.

"HELL YEAH!" Someone shouted from the crowd as one of the Chunin guards lunged at him with a kunai drawn. His blade came in low, intending to gut the Sannin like he was a lowly Genin. Naruto quickly stepped in and blocked the knife. Crossing his arms underneath him to stop the thrust and then twisted the blade out of the fellow Leaf ninja's hands, all while stepping into the man's stance.

"Brat!" The man spat before Naruto shoulder checked him to the ground. His shortness serving an advantage by giving him the lower center of gravity. By all accounts the Chunin shouldn't have been caught off guard by that, but once again Naruto realized that his age made him easily underestimated.

"Arrest them!" Chin shouted through his broken nose.

Naruto sheathed his new kunai in his pouch and readied for a fight. Corrupt or not. Every last one of these men were fellow Leaf ninjas. Allies he would need in the future. He and Pervy Sage would have to take care not to kill them. The first of the two standing Chunin came at Naruto with a low kick, thinking he could punt him into next week. Naruto hopped over his sweeping leg and gave two airborne kicks to the Chunin's sides. His opponent kneeled over and Naruto's feet hit the ground just in time to duck underneath a straight jab by the second attacking Chunin. Naruto came underneath his arm and came back up with an uppercut to the jaw.

Feeling victorious, his action star moment was undercut when the first Chunin kicked him from behind, knocking the blond ninja front first into the dirt. Ten years of combat experience kicked in and Naruto raised up his arms and rolled with the kick. Tumbling back into a kneeling stance.

"Anytime you wanna jump in, Pervy Sage, feel free!" Naruto shouted before noticing that he was indeed fighting alone. The crowdy was cheering like maniacs and the three Chunin were each back on their feet with Commander Chin barking orders at them. Yet no Toad Sannin in sight.

' _He ditched me again, didn't he?'_ Naruto growled.

' _ **Oh like you can't take these four losers.'**_ Kurama thought.

"Agi Katana No Jutsu!" One of the Chunin shouted, reaching into his belt to pull out a katana made of flames. His buddies shouted similar ninjutsu words and created a spear made of flames and a weighted chain made of fire as well.

' _Well obviously I can take them. But it's the principle, isn't it?'_

' _ **I'd call it just like old times.'**_ Kurama deadpanned.

' _Har-dee-har.'_ Naruto thought.

The three Chunin charged at Naruto with the one wielding the flaming katana taking the lead. He slashed down, forcing Naruto to sidestep. He could feel the heat from the flame jutsu singing his eyebrows. Fast as the wind, Naruto turned on his heel and slammed a hastily made Rasengan right in the Chunin's abdomen. The man went sailing butt first into a novelty hat shop and disappeared underneath a pile of broken shelves and oversized Hokage hats.

"You little brat!" Another Chunin shouted as he came at Naruto with a downward thrust of his flame spear. Naruto rolled underneath the thrust and came up kicking at the man's groin. Somewhere, a bell rang and the poor Chunin collapsed to his knees. Naruto gave him a quick jab to his temple and he crumpled into an unconscious heap.

"Watch out, kid!" An onlooker shouted. Giving Naruto just enough time to see the flaming weighted chain arching towards him and hop right over it. The Chunin was no slouch with his weapon though, he grabbed the length of his chain to accelerate the spin of the weight, aiming it right for Naruto's head. The young ninja saw the trick and leapt backwards, but not before crossing his fingers and creating three Shadow Clones to charge at his attacker in a suicide run.

The flaming chain cut through the three clones like butter, making them explode into three clouds of smoke, obscuring the Chunin's vision. He wasn't so easily fooled. Looking down, he could just make out two sets of feet hiding behind the smoke. That brat knew the Shadow Clone jutsu and was going to come at the Chunin from both angles to throw him off. His genius deduction was his undoing though.

The smokescreen had made the Chunin hesitate, which was just what Naruto was hoping for. He didn't see it coming when Naruto shot out of the smokescreen like a cannon and kicked the corrupt ninja's teeth in.

Those watching from the side cheered from approval. They had seen how Naruto had used his defeated clone smokescreen to hide the two other Shadow Clones he had created. They both lifted his feet and launched him towards their opponent. The flaming chain jutsu dissipated and Naruto stood over the unconscious man victorious.

As the crowd cheered, one defeated Jounin Captain scurried off out of sight. He found the first empty alleyway he could find and turned on his radio. "Commander Chin to Base. I need back-up at—" He said before a karate chop to the nape of his neck knocked him out. Naruto stood over the commander with a sad expression. This guy was supposed to be Naruto's comrade. His fellow Leaf ninja. Yet here he was, a whipped dog of some gangster, scurrying about.

In a flash, Naruto was back on the battlefield. Looking over the trampled grass plains he and a battalion of Leaf ninjas had fought for so long to defend. It was a costly victory, but what weighed the heaviest was when Naruto overturned the bodies of one of the enemy soldiers, one of Sasuke's men. Laying facedown just as this Jounin was back in Meichong. Except Naruto knew the dead enemy soldier. Naruto and fought beside him a month previously. Before he became a missing ninja and before he decided that the Five Great Ninja Nations were the losing side.

Naruto sighed. The embers of the battle turned back into soft red lanterns. The air stunk of piss and human sin, Naruto could breathe again.

"Hey kid, that was incredible." Someone said, alerting Naruto to the crowd that had gathered around him. A general applause broke out and Naruto gave them a polite wave while scanning the crowd. It didn't take long for him to spot Jiraiya in an alleyway waving for him.

"Thank you, you've all been great." Naruto said before flash stepping away. The crowd looked up, expecting him to have taken to the rooftops like any good ninja would. Instead, Naruto stepped into the alleyway to find his master hiding a tied-up man behind a dumpster. The man wore loose baggy pants, a white sleeveless t-shirt, and a red bandana over his head. His face wore a constant scowl, but he looked to Naruto like he was just catching his breath.

"Hey Pervy Sage, what was that about playing things close to the chest? Not starting fights and leaving me to finish them?" Naruto frowned.

"That was a strategy to see who reports back on ninja fights in this town. And guess who I found? A Cola Gang Looky Loo watching your fight." Jiraiya said proudly.

"What makes you say he is Cola Gang?" Naruto asked, stepping to his master's side.

"He was in an awful hurry when the fight started going your way. So I asked him why. He was pretty hesitant to tell me at first." Jiraiya smirked. "But I convinced him."

The thug pushed himself as far into the brick wall as he could away from the grinning Toad Sage. Making Naruto wonder what methods Jiraiya used to torture this poor loser.

"So what did he tell you?" Naruto asked.

"A lot of things. And he is going to repeat back every single one of those things to you so that I know he wasn't making them up." Jiraiya said as he stepped closer to the frightened gangster and pulled out a white feather. "Or else…"

* * *

Meanwhile on the other side of town, Sakura and Kakashi were busy surveying the last brothel in the city. A three-story building of red wood and painted concrete illuminated by golden lights. Made to look like an apartment building with its railways leading to doors of private rooms. With a ten-story concrete gate deterring anyone from sneaking in. Customers could only get in via the main gate which was manned by two bouncers on either side of the arches, who watched everyone coming and going. Inside the compound there were windows with hookers sitting inside little cells made to look like rooms. The women varied in size, shape, and to Sakura's disgust, age. She could see women as old as sixty wearing kimonos and girls younger than Sakura posing in tight little swimsuits.

"That is disgusting." Sakura hissed.

"That is what happens when you've bought off the police in your city. You can advertise whatever you have." Kakashi said sadly as he watched one of the young girls get chosen.

"I'm starting to come around to Naruto's idea. Just torch the place and destroy the Cola Gang." Sakura said.

"Unless something like that happened in your past, we can't risk altering the underground politics of this region. If the Cola Gang falls, then the lesser gangs will rise up to take over their empire. That would lead to a gang war that the Leaf would have to put down. Costing lives, time, and resources that we might not be able to afford." Kakashi explained.

Sakura sighed. "I hate time travel."

Kakashi gave Sakura a very Kakashi-esc smile while Sakura seemed to scowl. She spotted something. Kakashi noticed and let her work. One of the geisha girls moving between the many doors facing the street looked familiar. She had short black hair done up in a bun like most of the girls, and her face was painted white, but Sakura couldn't shake the feeling that she knew her plain face from somewhere.

As the woman headed deeper into the brothel, she was grabbed from behind by a passing customer. The woman jumped like she was a little girl and Sakura nearly jumped with her.

"Shizune!" Sakura said aloud.

"What?" Kakashi asked, looking up at the woman.

"Do you see that woman?" Sakura asked, not dare pointing her out, less she draws even more attention to her fellow student of the Slug Sannin. "That is Shizune. Lady Tsunade's ward. They traveled everywhere together before Naruto found them."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked, lowering his voice to encourage Sakura to lower hers.

Sakura looked harder and noticed Shizune's sharp eyes, at the point of tears since with the lecherous man dragging her to a free room. "That is her. I'm sure of it."

Kakashi stroked his mask like a beard, trying to think. "We need to get in contact with her."

"We need to let Naruto and Lord Jiraiya know about this." Sakura said. "I'll stay here. You go find them."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked.

"I will be fine. And I can keep an eye on Shizune better than you can." Sakura reasoned.

"Right." Kakashi said before taking off. Leaving Sakura alone to continue scouting the area.

For ten minutes she kept her eyes on the door that Shizune vanished behind. It didn't take a Nara clansman to deduce what was going on inside that room. What Sakura wanted to know was why wasn't Shizune resisting? She had been Lady Tsunade's ward for over a decade, even before Naruto ever ran into them a few years in the future. Trained to fight by Tsunade, one of the Sannin. While she had been surpassed by Sakura years ago, Shizune was a Jounin level Medical Ninja in her own right. It should have been a simple matter for her to knock her creepy client unconscious and then leap over the brothel walls to freedom. The only reasons Sakura could think of for Shizune putting up with this kind of work were that Lady Tsunade was somehow held captive (which seemed even more unlikely), the brothel owners were threatening someone else's life, or maybe even that they were using some kind of advanced fuinjutsu like the Bird Cage Seal to make a person obedient. The same kind of seal that the Main Branch of Hinata's Hyuga clan used on her cousin Neji's subservient Cadet Branch.

Sakura's train of thought was derailed by the cries of a girl. Her eyes shot over to her left to a dark alleyway next to the brothel where two Cola Gang thugs were strong arming a girl no older than 12 into a back door surrounded by security cameras. Sakura and Kakashi had already scoped the spot out. This wasn't the first time they had noticed girls of all ages disappearing into that alleyway. Kakashi figured it was where all the new "merchandise" was brought in. It made Sakura's blood boil, but she couldn't do anything to help those girls without giving herself away.

That's when a cool gust of wind blew past her, ringing some wind chimes behind her. Her eyes went wide with inspiration. Just in time for Kakashi to return with Naruto and Jiraiya.

"Hey, Sakura-chan. Got any new intel to share?" Naruto asked.

"Intel and an idea." Sakura replied. "But let's compare notes first."

"Let's…" Jiraiya said.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I am not dead.**

 **I am also not promising that chapters will be coming out with any kind of frequency. College is over and adulthood is zipping by me like a runaway train. But I won't abandon this story either. I have ideas for future chapters and I enjoy writing. But if anyone thinks they can give this story idea the commitment it deserves, PM me. I say again, if you wish to take a crack at writing your own version of 12 Ninjas, have at it. All I ask is that you mention my story in the first chapter as inspiration while also linking the chapter to me so that I can read it. I get so happy whenever there is a random person who favorites and follows me and this story even months after I last updated.**

 **On a happier note. Write me some reviews guys. They give me so much inspiration to write and make me feel so happy to receive one.**


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